Web Sites

• MSDN Online (msdn.microsoft.com)

  MSDN is the first place to start looking for .NET and Windows information. MSDN Online can be accessed at the address I list as well as through the Microsoft-endorsed magazine MSDN Magazine. Keep in mind that MSDN is partly a marketing organization, so sometimes a little hype creeps into various pieces.

• ASP.NET Web (www.asp.net)

  This Web site is the official home of the ASP.NET team at Microsoft. For the life of me, I can't figure out why Microsoft has this site outside of the MSDN umbrella.

• Google Microsoft Search (www.google.com/microsoft.html)

  Although MSDN is the place to read about Microsoft technologies, its searching capabilities leave something to be desired. Fortunately, Google has a special search site that focuses only on Microsoft technologies. If you'd like to use the vaunted Google search on only the MSDN site, specify site:msdn.microsoft.com in your search string.

• Sysinternals (www.sysinternals.com)

  Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell have some of the best native debugging utilities around: Regmon, Filemon, DebugView, Process Explorer, and many more. Many utilities come with full source code, and all are free! I check Mark and Bryce's site at least once a week so that I can keep my competitive edge.

• Russ Osterlund's SmidgeonSoft (www.smidgeonsoft.com)

  Russ has a collection of fantastic and free tools that rival those at Sysinternals. Not only is his PEBrowse Professional Interactive a native code debugger, it handles .NET debugging as well. If you want to see the insides of the operating system, Russ has you covered.

• Code Project (www.codeproject)

  This is a great community site for both .NET and native development.

• CodeGuru (www.codeguru.com)

  This is the granddaddy of Windows programming help sites. Now it does .NET, too!

• VB2TheMax (www.vb2themax.com)

  This is the place to learn about Microsoft Visual Basic .NET.

• Wintellect (www.wintellect.com)

  This is where I and all my Wintellectual friends hang out and answer (and post!) questions on our forums.