Visual C++ .NET Standard Edition

Ok, does anyone here own the "Visual C++ .NET Standard Edition?"
If so, is there a major difference from VC6.0?
Why is the ".NET" in the name? Or what is .NET?
Can this compiler be used with any Windows Version?

I am thinking about buying this compiler... but it doesn't come with this "Optimizing compiler" like the Pro. Edition does...

What are they(Microsoft) talking about when they say "Optimizing Compiler" for the Pro. Edition???

Another thing is that the information on the "Visual C++ .NET 2002" (http://msdn.microsoft.com/visualc/) is under the "previous versions" link.... hm. Is there a 2003 version??

Should I stick with Visual C++ 6.0?

I have the Pro edition of .NET 2003. .NET is like VC6 except it includes support for the .NET framework, C#, etc.

Get the 2003 version. .NET 2003 contains Visual C++ 7.1, which is not only the most ANSI-compliant Visual C++ yet, it's the most compliant compiler period. If you want to learn to write portable, standard code, it's a good place to start from. VC6 has a whole host of incompatibilities and errors that VC 7.1 corrects.