sharepoint programming in C#

I want to learn about programming SharePoint - SP - in c#, i have VS 2010 professional. but 开发者_开发百科creating a visual webpart requires, SP to be installed on the same machine. my question is, is there any free (express version of SP, for leaning purpose) if not, can i use a remote SP server to develop web parts in C#, is there a trick to use a remote SP server with my VS 2010 Pro, from an XP machine SP3, that is my system config. Your help is appreciated guys.

Have a great programming Day, here at STACK!

I also say that your OS must be 64 bit. Here is very helpful article how to install SP on Windows 7.

Microsoft SharePoint Foundation is free and should be enough to get you started. However, I am pretty sure you can't run it on Windows XP - you'll need Windows 7 or even better Windows 2008 Server.