I did a guest spot at a class at UMass Amherst the other day where C# was one of the languages they used. Stuart Reges from Arizona published a paper about using C# in CS1. See Can C# Replace Java in CS1 and CS2? People are starting to take C# very seriously. And of course you can download the C# compiler for free. It is part of the .NET Framework. But it doesn't include Visual Studio .NET which really makes things more fun. And frankly I don't understand why every CS department doesn't have MSDN AA. It doesnt cost much at all and if opens doors for students to learn a lot on their own.