>>19
C# indeed
was Java with some syntax changed, but now it clearly is a new language. (and probably will end like C++, a Frankenstein language) I'd take C# over Java any day.
However, I was mostly talking of the VM. I haven't seen/read anything of the JVM, other than all the hacks J*, Kawa, Clojure, ..., have to do to properly function (e.g. Kawa and tailcalls, Clojure and its fabulous stack traces). The CIL and the CLI, OTOH, seem to be a nice iset and VM. If it wasn't for the overly engineered standard libraries (System.Console.HaxMyAnus, etc), it would even be reasonable to write CIL code by hand.