>>The Framework is free. Anyone can download it. What you have to buy are tools like Visual Studio .Net that use the framework.
>
>So, if I download the framework, I can't do anything with it. I have to make a choice of purchasing a development environment such as VB.Net for example, right?

Not entirely, As I see it, you can also download the SDK for free. It is in the same pages as the framework when you go in from the MSDN web site. You loose alot of RAD development that way though. Using the SDK is kind of like using JAVA ( or C++) strictly from the command line. You can compile c# exe's or dll's, but you have to get all the compiler switches right.