NewBie Question: What is the difference between MVC4 and classic ASP.NET?

I think there is no fundamental difference. What used to be called "postbacks" in classic ASP.NET is in MVC4 called GET and POST controller calls. No reduction of server calls what so ever. No speed improvement or look and feel akin to a desktop application in MVC4. One could incorporate equal amounts of JavaScript in classic ASP.NET as in MVC4. Moreover one needs to learn a plethora of Javascript libraries like knockout in MVC4.