>For answering the following, consider that my level of knowledge in .NET is that of a newbie.
>
>In Visual FoxPro, I have seen that a lot of work can be saved by using third-party frameworks. I assume the situation is similar in .NET.

Actually, I think because the potential is so much larger, much more has been invested in .NET frameworks. There are a lot more frameworks available and they seem much more robust than VFP frameworks. I'm in no position to evaluate the options, but was impressed with www.ironspeed.com.