If you are looking for something that will maximize your capability as a professional developer, absolutely yes. If you are looking for something to dabble in just for fun, I'd say its a much less important thing to worry about.
For me, the magic of C#/.NET (when used appropriately) is that the language can fall away and allow you to think almost directly in business terms. Features like LINQ are a major part of this experience. When I am working with a complex business domain, I really don't like the idea of playing code golf with my tools. Making the customer happy is far more rewarding to me than anything I could do on my computer.
Also, being able to minimize your vendor footprint to just "Microsoft" helps out a ton at due diligence time if you are selling software to other businesses.
If you are looking for something that will maximize your capability as a professional developer, absolutely yes. If you are looking for something to dabble in just for fun, I'd say its a much less important thing to worry about.
For me, the magic of C#/.NET (when used appropriately) is that the language can fall away and allow you to think almost directly in business terms. Features like LINQ are a major part of this experience. When I am working with a complex business domain, I really don't like the idea of playing code golf with my tools. Making the customer happy is far more rewarding to me than anything I could do on my computer.
Also, being able to minimize your vendor footprint to just "Microsoft" helps out a ton at due diligence time if you are selling software to other businesses.