You do not have to uninstall 2008 express. You should be able to install 2005 express side-by-side.
How is it not working? I have built Qt apps with 2008 express and 2008 pro Visual Studio, as well as 2005 versions. I have not encountered your problem.
Once you've set everything up correctly you can build Qt apps just like msvc apps. You can do this with the open source Qt, but you need to understand how to set up the Visual Studio environment. Takes a bit of time when you initially set up a project. After that smooth sailing!
If you want a quick and simple IDE for Qt, try QDevelop or the tech preview of Qt Creator. I think Qt Creator looks promising, just Google for them.
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