Hi Tom,
That's a question for which there will be very, very long answers. But to
simplify it, vb .net - as opposed to any other vb, is fully object oriented
and can be used to develop very sophisticated systems. VB 6 was partially
an object language, but had certain limitations.
If you're getting started with programming, set up vs .net and try your hand
at both vb .net and c#.
Bernie Yaeger