You also have the Visual Basic Working Model where you can learn VB and run your programs in the IDE, but there is no compiler in that package so you can't crate standalone applications.
But it's good for learning. However, this only exist for older versions of Visual Basic, up to Visual Basic 6.
Also, I would second the suggestion to get some free version of Delphi. Delphi is Objekt Pascal, a language that is very similar to Basic. However, I still wouldn't call it an 'easy' language because it is nearly as powerful as C++ (only nearly though) and gives ample opportunities for confusion.
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They SAID that given enough time a million monkeys with typewriters could recreate the collected works of William Shakespeare... Internet sure proved them wrong.
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