Choosing project type

[Hadar]

So here are my difficulties,
I'm not sure which type of project I should program with, and by that I mean Win32, MFC, ATL, and CLR.

The thing is, after console I went straight to Win32, and felt amazingly good about it. as a C# programmer, suddenly the code became much much more under my control.

but then, after a lot of thinking I started feeling that maybe it's extremely hard to be able to create a quality program by today's terms.

So, I'm thinking to learn the C++ language like this, and I need experts to tell me if this is indeed correct:

- Learn CLR
- Learn ATL/MFC
- Learn Win32

(Not sure about CLR by the way)

The reason I'm thinking to do this is that way, is because I think that if I start with something relatively easy, and start going deeper, it could make my learning curve much more convenient, but of course, I need to make sure, so I'm asking you guys.
What's holding me back is the thought of reduction in the performances and memory because lack of control over the program + I don't know how much control I have with those project types over libraries and SDKs.

So, what do you guys think?
Thanks

[webJose]

In my opinion, you can learn .Net first, but you cannot learn ATL or MFC without understanding how Windows works, meaning you should learn Win32 using a book that explains very well how Windows works, like Petzold's book.

Also note that ATL is primarily a framework for COM/ActiveX. Therefore you should learn COM and ActiveX before jumping into ATL.

[Hadar]

Thank you webJose.
Ugh, I hoped I won't have to go to long expensive books.
Well, thank you for your suggestion. I'll try to get my hands on the book when I can.