Thread: GPS beginner - confused?

I am currently gathering up equipment and installing/testing everything at home before installing into the car. I am also writing up my own touchscreen application.

So far I have the laptop with Vista (thinking Windows 7 might be better?), 7" touchscreen, usb cameras (2), and the custom application to interface with cameras and cd/dvd drive. Since GPS is top priority as well, I was looking into GMPC.

As I understand it, I will need the usb receiver, but will I need any software? Does Garmin utilize a sdk for developers so I can interface just the parts of the GPS I would like? If anyone has done this (I did notice the 'Proof of Concept: Interfacing with GMPC' thread), is this feasible with vb.net?

Basically, what will it take (hardware/software wise) to use Garmin/GPS in a custom application?