working with System::String^ in visual c++, help please!

[dush]

Hi all,

Funny, but I simply cant manage to read / write value from Controls (TextBox, Label ...) in Visual C++.

I am new to Visual C++ so please explain! How to get a value from user (TextBox) into my char* or int type variable and how to print it out (Label) ?
I found out I can do:

String^ str = "Hello";
label1->Text = str;

but nothing more.

Why does microsoft made up System::String^ type and why the hell I cant do simple conversions from and into this type? (like to char* , to int , to float, to whatever and backwards?)

What am I missing? Is there any library with nice functions I should include?

In C++ Borland Builder Ansistring type exists and I can happily play all around with strings. It is also easy to use all C standard library (stdio.h and string.h) or iostream for me. But how to work with strings in Microsoft Visual C++ (not console but in desktop applications)? Help me with this mystery please!

Thanks