AVR-Chat

I am fairly new to the microcontroller.  I am very enthusiastic about 
the Atmel ATMega128.  It seems that the Mavric-IIb board gives me just 
what I need to power my applications.

What else will I need to be able to program it to do my bidding.

Obviously, I need the Mavric-IIb board, and a power supply.  I think I 
need a programmer interface such as the AVRISP which I can get from 
Digikey for $29.00.  I need some language complier such as GCC or 
Bascom-AVR.  I'd love suggestions for a FREE or very inxepensive 
compiler.

What else will I need to make it work?

In the past I have used the Basic-X platform which is actually very 
nice for a very user friendly environment.  I need more horsepower!  I 
want to see what the cost will be to get a fully functioning 
microcontroller.

-Tony