title: What puzzles me...Are .NET languages the mainstream languages for Windows (standalone) applications?
body: <p>I'm an inquisitive .NET student without any commercial working knowledge and I have been puzzled by what exactlty are .NET languages meant for? </p>
  
  <p>Q1.If you look on job websites, .NET seems mainly used for web applications, not much for Windows applications? (My dream job is to develop standalone small Windows applications.)</p>
  
  <p>Q2.Are most "major" Windows applications developed using C/C++? e.g. word processing applications like MS Word or OpenOffice; photo editing software like ACD See or Photoshop; MSN or Yahoo Messenger; disc burners... Is .NET too slow and too indirect to handle these kinds of tasks?</p>
  
  <p>Q3.Are .NET languages mostly only used in SIMPLE business applications involving database backend? E.g. payroll or GPS applications Because it's too slow and too indirect for major software applications?</p>
  
  <p>Q4.I thought for the last few years .NET was the only development tool encouraged by Microsoft for Windows applications and C/C++ are outdated languages? Do they use MFC to access Windows API which is also outdated in new versions of Windows(backward compatible but not encouraged by Windows)?</p>
  
  <p>Q5.If C/C++ are the main tools for major standalone Windows Applications, then the (slow) managed code approach is only a joke? Or the dominance of C/C++ is due to most major applications are older than .NET? Can you give me some famous names of software developed using .NET?</p>
  
  <p>Thanks a lot for your industrial insight!</p>