VB.NET is a language. ASP.NET is a technology, which is used to create Web applications. ASP.NET applications can be written in VB.NET, C# or some other language. If you want to develop for the web then you should learn ASP.NET. The new Visual Web Developer 2005 Express from Microsoft is free and allows you to create Web applications using either VB.NET or C#. Visual Basic 2005 Express and Visual C# 2005 Express are intended to create Windows Forms applications.