What is said about Web Matrix: A tool for developing ASP.NET Web application watered-down version of Visual Studio .Net that supports basic ASP.Net coding for simpler Web applications. It was implemented 100% using C# and the .NET Framework. It is a community-supported, easy-to-use WYSIWYG application development too. You can build applications using either the Visual Basic or C# programming languages
Web Matrix History: Back when ASP.NET was in Beta, the ASP.NET team decided that while Visual Studio .NET was a great overall development tool, it had three inhibiting drawbacks: its size, cost, and "do everything" nature. The Enterprise edition of Visual Studio .NET, for example, costs several thousand dollars and uses multiple CD. In order to combat these problems of Visual Studio .NET, the ASP.NET team set out to create a new developer tool--one geared solely for the ASP.NET developer. The team decided that this tool must be small, agile, great at what it does, and inexpensive. It was designed by people in the ASP.NET team during their off hours -- after work and on the weekends. On June 17th, 2002 the ASP.NET team released their tool to the public.
Requirements: Size in its compressed downloadable form: 1.2MB--fits on a floppy--and consumes only 2.5MB of drive space. It requires the .NET Framework and is supported on Windows2000 and Windows XP. Finally, it requires Microsoft Internet Explorer--5.5 or later