I've recently started programming in C++, and now I've decided to expand my knowledge to include some graphical frameworks. I am quite confused about some of the steps in installing and using Qt though.
I am using Visual Studio 2005 IDE and I've followed this excellent guide: http://www.telldus.se/qt/tutorial.pdf
I am curious why at has to be so complicated to install the open source version of Qt. Usually when you install something it's only a matter of placing the program and then everything is handled automatically.

How come I have to type configure in the Qt command prompt? What is the function of this command? Every time I type configure in C:\Qt\4.1.1 in the windows command prompt I receive an error, but if I do it in the Qt command prompt everything works fine. How come?

What is the difference between the mingw32-make and NMake?

Why do I have to run configure before I run make? Why is it not a single process?