[AccessD] Dot Net, where to start?

Hi all

It seems to be the time for me to get into the Dot Net stuff. But where to start?
The only books on Access I've ever had are the original references and handbooks for Access 1 and 2 and the Application Development book for Access 97 so I'm reluctant to buy books - I just don't have the patience ...

In the Action Pack - which we subscribe to - I've noticed two discs for VS 2005 Express, "Corbis Image Disc" and "Getting Started". Are these tutorials worth the effort to study?

I browsed our vb list archive, which I don't subsribe to, and traffic seems to be low, so where to discuss Dot Net matters at the same level as we discuss Access here?

One thing I think I've understood is that report design in VS is poor and third party tools or Report Design Service of SQL Server 2005 are to be preferred if you need reports on a level that match that of Access.

Of course, my main interest is anything related to databases - pure web development is second, and game development won't come into play.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

/gustav