[fole]

MS Stack Advantages: - Backwards compatible for businesses where that matters (any B2B company tends to need this) - Tends to be easy to integrate with Windows security/domains/etc - C# is a fantastic language, and it's getting better with each release - Has a growing open source environment, check out everything StackExchange has released, and NancyFx for my two favorite examples - Mono means that eventually you'll be able to swap out your server with Linux if you're brave and persistent - Entity Framework and Linq to Sql do a good job of abstracting your database layer - If you're using SQL Server (a pretty good, but expensive, database server) using a MS Stack means you can easily (and fully) enjoy everything it has to offer

IIS is pretty well documented online. Generally I can just google a short english sentence with exactly what I want to do and get it running.

C# Learning resources: What language are you coming from? If Java then just start using PascaleCase instead of camelCase. Then get Jon Skeet's "C# in Depth." If your coming from something else there's half a dozen good intro books (pick any, based on how good you are at picking up new languages). Then still get "C# in Depth."

Entity Framework is pretty straightforward to use...the MSDN docs are great, and the wizard gives you a good intro. Otherwise I'm sure there are books out there. I find experimentation and googling effective.