Is it intentional that references use pointer syntax in the watch window? There are a lot of references in the code at my work. I can definitely adapt, but I can see it being a hindrance for others.
I have on my todo list checking for references and allowing the '.' operator to be used. I might just get rid of the error altogether and allow '.' for everything. Not sure on this though.
I would also really appreciate this! I think the reason why this syntax was used in programming languages also largely doesn't apply in a debugger: You have all types visible all the time, so the possiblity of confusion over what is a pointer and what not is a lot lower.
That said: The most important thing is to have good error messages about this, if one tries the other thing, and you luckily do!