The | operator performs a bitwise OR of its two operands (meaning both sides must evaluate to false for it to return false) while the || operator will only evaluate the second operator if it needs to.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/kxszd0kx(VS.71).aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/6373h346(VS.71).aspx