Q:

VS2008 non.NET Application

How can I create a VB application in VS2008 without requiring the application be run on a computer with a .NET framework in place?

A:

You can't create a non-managed VB application in VS 2008.
You would have to use C/C++ or go back to VS 6.
You can look at the question below for more information on .NET linkers. That is technically an option, but if I were starting a new application that I didn't want to depend on the .NET framework I would not use a managed language.
Running .net based application without .net framework

A:

You'll need to use a 3rd party .NET linker, Visual Studio itself doesn't support what you're after but a number of tools allow it to be done.  
A couple of tools:

Remotesoft Salamander .NET Linker
Xenocode app virtualization

Another, non-VS, option is to use Mono to build a "Bundle" which combines both the runtime and your application into a single executable:
Mono:Runtime - Bundles

