.NET is both a business strategy from Microsoft and its collection of programming support for what are known as Web services, the ability to use the Web rather than your own computer for various services. Microsoft's goal is to provide individual and business users with a seamlessly interoperable and Web-enabled interface for applications and computing devices and to make computing activities increasingly Web browser-oriented. The .NET platform includes servers; building-block services, such as Web-based data storage; and device software. It also includes Passport, Microsoft's fill-in-the-form-only-once identity verification service.

The .NET framework is part of Windows and provides a controlled environment for developing and running applications. Programmers do not have to "reinvent the wheel" as the framework provides a rich library of APIs that applications can use. This library includes functions for GUI, accessing databases, communicating across networks and much more.

It also supports many different programming languages including C++ and C#. There is less of a need to choose a particular programming language because of the features it offers.