Hi there,

Well for 1 and 2 your just kind of stuck.  I'm not absolutly sure about the cookies thing there is probably a way around it.  As for the SQL hits that's really the price you pay to have 95% of the information that is you web site, living in a database.  It's what makes it non-static. :) with DNN the only thing that isn't in the database is a skeleton default.aspx page and the pictures and graphics. So the hits to the database won't change all that much.

3. DNN is as secure as anything can be running on the public internet. "real" security would mean pulling the ethernet cable out of the backend.  The passwords are encrypted but really that's almost more trouble than it's really worth IMHO. :)  If someone got to the point where they could get the passwords you've got bigger problems.

4. With DNN you will find hundreds of very useful Modules.  Everything from complete applications to simple  textboxes.  Most come with the source code so you can modify them to suit your needs.  There are hundreds of skins and it's pretty easy to make your own. 

You can know as much as you want too with DNN.  If you just want to do skins you don't need to know more than html and a little bit of xml.  You don't even need that if you use dreamweaver.  :)

Don't fear the dark side luke.  Dot Net is a good thing.  There is a little learning curve and there are no free IDE's to use (a big MS failing if you ask me) but VB .Net and C# are really easy to pick up especially if they are not your first language. There is plenty of documentation and help on the net and lots of good books. The object browser will become your best friend.

Is .Net more effecient the PHP?  .Net is probably better with all the backend stuff for example accessing databases, logging, calculating that sort of thing.  PHP is probably better at actually rendering the HTML sent to the client.  You have more control of the html code with PHP for sure but that really because you are writing it all.  ASP take care of a lot of that for you, which is good and bad.  It just depends on how pretty you want your source code to look for the 1 guy in a 1000 that actually looks at it. :)

just my .02

Cheers,      

What about Visual Web Developer (http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/vwd/)? That looks pretty free to me, only downside is that you cannot create precompiled assemblies...

Yeah they are getting a little better.  As long as you don't need some features.  I just think more people would want to program with a .Net language if doing so were a little more accessible.  I could write Enterprise Java applications for nothing more than the bandwidth to download netbeans.  With VB or C# it's going to cost me at least $1500.  If you were just starting out which way would you go?

Anyway sorry off topic.  :)