Originally Posted by
Opariti
Java means nothing if not related to the "Java technology". When talk about Java we must consider - at least - Java Virtual Machine which is it's so called "run-time framework".
The C family goes"up" to C#, and C# is close to Java but on a different framework, the Microsoft's .NET.
Like most of the operating systems, Windows had been developed in C, then in C++ (the Win32 APIs). It still is in XP and Vista, only that these C++ APIs are wrapped into .Net classes of which C# takes fully advantage as Java of "Java technology" (aka JEE).
Learning C will drive you to the best computer understanding, all the rest is based upon, except for the "Internet languages". A remarkable language of that kind is PHP, but thats' another story.
C# is very close to Java