[curiousDog]

.NET is a framework. This is how the stack looks like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DotNet.svg.

[pippy]

Sorry, I updated my comment.

I also should have mentioned Mono, but that's a different topic.

[Pacabel]

I don't think it's worth mentioning Mono. It's impressive what they've managed to accomplish, but it's nowhere near being a true replacement for .NET, especially for any serious system.