The Microsoft .NET Framework has gone from strength to strength since its inception in November 2000. It now supports a large and vibrant development community eager for new techniques and ideas. Visual Studio 'Orcas' together with the latest versions of C#, VB and ASP will be the largest upgrade to the framework since .NET 2.0 in November 2005. Since then there have been huge changes in the development landscape, with the new Vista operating system being released and the '.NET 3.0' package of add-ons released to support it. In 'Orcas' all of these technologies, together with LINQ, ASP.NET AJAX and a huge collection of new language features, are being brought together into a single cohesive unit behind the Visual Studio interface. Beginning C# 3.0 is being written from scratch, specifically for this new 'Orcas' version, by a well-respected author to teach beginners how to use the new framework to their best advantage. They will learn everything they need to know to get to grips with this cutting-edge technology.