I’m a Java EE person who would like to climb the .NET learning curve.
I’ve always had the impression that one important difference between Java and .NET was that the Microsoft suite required that you (or your employer) had put up some coin to get access to the tools. A Java person has the advantage of being able to download a JVM, Eclipse or NetBeans, Tomcat or Glassfish, MySQL or PostgreSQL, and they’re in business. Is that still fair? What’s the best way for a guy who works in a Java EE shop to learn C# without breaking the bank? Is it possible learn C# well without a paid subscription to MSDN?
No subscription is required. You can even download the free Visual Studio Express Edition, and also access to the MSDN library is free. And there is also Sql Server Express edition which is also free.
Add to this all the great free online resources, like stackoverflow, asp.net, codeproject, blogs etc. and you are ready to go.