I have heard that .NET is not free and that I have to pay Microsoft if I develop a .NET application. Is this true? If so:
What do I have to pay?
I'm a subscriber to the MSDN via the Academic Alliance (we download a variety of Microsoft Software products for free, like VS2008 and Windows Server 2008). Do I have to pay for the software that I make with these tools?
What about web apps with ASP.NET? Is there a payment due when I host my application or do I just pay for the technology?
EDIT:
So what you are saying is that it's the same to develop a web application using ASP.NET or PHP (ignoring technical issues, just payment side), all what I have to pay is the hosting fees?
EDIT 2:
.NET rules :)