1) Is C# proprietary (to MS) or free to use by anyone, anyhow, and on any platform (kinda like C++)? 2) Is C# much easier than C++? Does using C# instead of C++ usually diminish the development time (making games)? 3) Have a lot of gamedevelopment migrated from C++ to C#? Is it perhaps even more popular than C++ nowadays? 4) Is C# powerful enough to develop high-end commercial games? Are there any examples?

1) I suppose it is proprietary to MS. But there is a Linux port called Mono, but I don't know what its official legal status is.

2) Definetly. C# is easier to learn and to write code in. You'll never have to worry about memory management as you did in C++. Plus it is less error-prone and thus easier to debug.

3) Not yet. C++ is still used in 75% of the games nowadays (I got this % from a post here..). But in my opinion, C# is the language of the future.

4) If you use 21st century technologies such as vertex/pixel shaders, surely! We're developing a 3D sci-fi game in MDX with C# and it looks nice :) Have a look at the screenshots in our forums (link in sig).