I've moved over to web dev using asp.net from deskop apps about 3 months ago.

So far, I found the .net easy to use, convenient, blah blah...but I'm just FED UP with all the performance issues on have when you rely on .net to do your things.

I really want to stick with web dev...find it really stimulating.

Now I look at some really good sites (like our forums here) and helllooooo...PHP!

So I started thinking of carry on doing asp.net at work (too late to turn back now), but start doing my own stuff in PHP, and eventually switch over to PHP (plan to start working on my own later this year)

Will anyone be so kind to tell me the pro's and con's of such decision, and wether you would advice it?

Also I would like some info like:
1) Good resources (sites, books, articles, forums, etc)
2) Startup tips
3) Most commonly used development tools. (gimme a text editor with numbered lines and I'm happy!)
4) Most commonly used technologies with PHP (like mySQL for db? how about ms sql server, which I'm pretty used to)

Thanks for your time, and hope to get some replies soon!

StraNger!