For years I have been avid (dare I type "obnoxious"?) about VB.NET over C# for one, and only one reason: case-sensitivity. I simply do NOT understand the need for a case-sensitive language (and probably never will but I'm from West Virginia...). The only remote reason that someone gave me was the background compiler and how it bogs the system on larger solutions. I can see this, and I agree but have never experienced. In fact, quite the opposite. I find that I really miss it when building C# solutions.
Well, about a month or so ago I started experiencing frequent Visual Studio crashes related to the VB compiler. At some point, I decided that all of my future projects will be C# if I have the choice. I simply did not have time to restart Visual Studio every time I switched from a WinForms designer view to code view. It was pretty miserable.
For you C# advocates I am sad to report that / For you VB.NET advocates I am happy to report...
Service Pack 1 seems to really help. I have been really hammering on my system and on Visual Studio (like usual) and am experiencing no crashes (knock on hard, wooden, WV head). I see to have no problems with the background compiler now at all.
I should also mention that I applied the service pack in the middle of a release week (read as "chaotic week of evil hell, bad food, and no sleep"). I was nervous about it but I figured I couldn't possibly lose any more productivity time. All in all, if you haven't done it already, even if you're in a tight week, I recommend you go ahead and apply it. Good luck.
Disclaimer: The B-Dogg is NOT responsible for any missed deadlines (except his own) or any other negative outcomes due to applying Visual Studio Service Pack 1. This post is provided as is and offers no guarantees of any kind.