it's the framework to end all frameworks, the end result of MS responding to earlier frameworks (VCL, Java, etc) with a super complex and comprehensive framework (admittedly much better than earlier MS crap such as MFC)....coupled with a '90s style inflexible language (C#, C# with BASIC keywords).

It'd be great if everyone still thought C++ was the cat's meow.

But, the programming world has changed with the success of dynamic languages, and programming in .Net is like programming in a straightjacket compared to better options such as Python. I'm hoping IronPython will progress rapidly.