>When building a COM object one is not dealing directly with the WIN32 system but through COM+,COM1.5 subsystem. COM+,COM1.5 then deals with the WIN32 system directly...
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>Is .NET currently just a very well made system that accesses/uses the COM+ OR COM1.5 subsystem?

.NET will use COM+ for "remoting".

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>From what I understand .NET does not directly access the WIN32 subsystem.... is this true?

I'm not totally versed in .NET, but I think it would have to. Windows is all based in Win32.

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>Is one of the goals of 'longhorn' to have the .NET managed code access the WIN32 system directly without requiring COM+,COM1.5 ?

Nope. In Longhorn, WIN32 will be REPLACED with .NET managed code. WIN32 will then be legacy and in maintenance mode.