They are definately bloated (seems like a minimum of 12MB for even a basic app), although I don't agree that they are slow.
Compared to using VC 6 or unmanaged code, it'll obviously be slower, but it shouldn't be noticably slower for most office/desktop applications.
I would say it is likely more to do with the programming than the framework itself.
Actual application speed differs from your perception of speed. Making an app seem fast is one thing that separates the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. It should be fairly simple to benchmark some algorithm under .Net and then compare it to Visual C code. There's probably some EULA that says you're not supposed to do that though.
Compared to using VC 6 or unmanaged code, it'll obviously be slower, but it shouldn't be noticably slower for most office/desktop applications.
I would say it is likely more to do with the programming than the framework itself.
Actual application speed differs from your perception of speed. Making an app seem fast is one thing that separates the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. It should be fairly simple to benchmark some algorithm under .Net and then compare it to Visual C code. There's probably some EULA that says you're not supposed to do that though.