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#.
Ther is a very detailed site that lists the products and feature sets which
should give you all you need. I think it's www.microsoft.com, but you might
have to look beyond the 1st page