From http://www.w3schools.com (Copyright Refsnes Data)

Introduction to Microsoft .NET

Microsoft .NET is Microsoft's new Internet strategy.

.NET was originally called NGWS.

NGWS - Next Generation Windows Services

Before the official announcement of .NET, the term NGWS was used for Microsoft's plans for producing an "Internet-based platform of Next Generation Windows Services". 

Steve Ballmer quote January 2000:

"Delivering an Internet-based platform of Next Generation Windows Services is the top priority of our company. The breakthroughs we’re talking about here include changes to the programming model, to the user interface, to the application integration model, the file system, new XML schema....."

Microsoft. NET

The Microsoft. NET strategy was presented by Microsoft officials to the rest of the world in June 2000:

• .NET is Microsoft's new Internet and Web strategy
• .NET is NOT a new operating system
• .NET is a new Internet and Web based infrastructure
• .NET delivers software as Web Services
• .NET is a framework for universal services
• .NET is a server centric computing model
• .NET will run in any browser on any platform
• .NET is based on the newest Web standards

.NET Internet Standards

.NET is built on the following Internet standards:

• HTTP, the communication protocol between Internet Applications
• XML, the format for exchanging data between Internet Applications
• SOAP, the standard format for requesting Web Services
• UDDI, the standard to search and discover Web Services

.NET Framework

The .NET Framework is the infrastructure for the new Microsoft .NET Platform. 

The .NET Framework is a common environment for building, deploying, and running Web Services and Web Applications.

The .NET Framework contains common class libraries - like ADO.NET, ASP.NET and Windows Forms - to provide advanced standard services that can be integrated into a variety of computer systems.

The .NET Framework is language neutral. Currently it supports C++, C#, Visual Basic, JScript (The Microsoft version of JavaScript) and COBOL. Third-party languages - like Eiffel, Perl, Python, Smalltalk, and others - will also be available for building future .NET Framework applications.

The new Visual Studio.NET is a common development environment for the new .NET Framework. It provides a feature-rich application execution environment, simplified development and easy integration between a number of different development languages.

Additional Information

• The .NET plan includes a new version of the Windows operating system, a new version of Office, and a variety of new development software for programmers to build Web-based applications.
• The background for .NET is part of Microsoft's new strategy to keep Windows the dominant operating system in the market, as computing begins to move away from desktop computers toward Internet enabled devices, such as hand-held computers and cell phones.
• The most visual components of the new .NET framework are the new Internet Information Server 6.0, with ASP.NET and ADO.NET support, Visual Studio.NET software tools to build Web-based software, and new XML support in the SQL Server 2000 database. 
• Bill Gates is supervising the .NET project.

From http://www.w3schools.com (Copyright Refsnes Data)