I started picking up ASP.NET before i learned PHP, only because i was an average Visual Basic programmer, and it allowed me to integrate my VB knowledge into the web applications.
And with the ASP Applica0tion program i used i was able to test the webpages right here on my PC.When i got ready to upload them to my webserver i quickly realized that my webserver was not ASP compatible.
So then i switched the PHP and have zoomed since then.Now that i think about it, i think the PHP may've been a little easier to learn that the ASP.NET