.NET and IIS

I am new to .NET so please excuse any dumb questions.

As far as I understand IIS 5 (2k server) does not support ASP.NET. If I own .NET and install it on my laptop for development purposes is it illegal to install the IIS portion of it on the server? IIS used to be free but I don't know anymore.

Who has tried C#? I haven't heard too much about it but that's because I haven't really looked lately. Is it a large learning curve for an ASP/VB developer?

Thanks for any help.

One more thing, Wrox makes the best references.... Right?

to get iis 5 to support .net you have to install the .net framework, the component updates and all the server extension updates and then it will work. im doing .net development on my win 2k pro with iis 5

as far as trying C#, if you already are a vb\asp developer stick with that, theres enough learning to do in vb.net and asp.net
you get the same exact functionality out of vb.net as you do with c#.net so there is no real reason to undertake learning it. Stick with what you know. But if you want to learn C# go for it, but it is a steep learning curve from vb\asp. It is basically c++ and Java mixed together, so unless you know c++ or java then it will be a big learning curve.

and as far as the best reference books.. i think oriely are the best reference books, wrox # 2 tied with Apress. but that is my opinion im sure other people think otherwise

Thank you for the response. I have already ordered the Wrox book for ASP.NET so hopefully it will do the job.

You stated that you get the same functionality with VB.NET as with C#.NET. I know C++ was a lot more powerful than VB in past versions. Did C# make it less powerful or did VB just gain that much power?

C# does not replace C++ in terms of raw power - they are two seperate languages for VS.Net. VB got some nice improvements, and ASP loses the dreaded VBscript.

BTW - does it bother anyone else but me the ASP.NET installs about a dozen file extensions mappings on IIS? IIS is something I like to keep relatively locked down...