Even if they pull it off I just can't see a future where I'm only supporting one platform - windows. Yes, I'm aware of Mono on Linux but for the moment the differences between .Net and Mono might as well be the grand canyon - at least for desktop apps.

So far I'm getting everything I need from Python and the Dabo framework. I write once and everything just runs on Mac's, Linux, and Windows. My customers have found Linux and are asking me to deploy it. From my advantage point I see cross platform as the way to go.

Could Python go away - I guess it's possible but un-likely due to the open source environment and the very large community. I'm more concerned that Dabo might go away. But I have the source code and could support it myself if required.

There are other cross platform solutions. Today if I did not have python I might have selected Java or Ruby. With the open source guys - Ruby is the hot lang. I don't see it but there is plenty of support for Ruby. And to let you the truth I see Java moving very quickly past .Net with respect to new tools and support. The two popular IDE's (netBeans and Eclipse) are moving very quickly. Check out netBeans 6.0 screencast on creating a desktop app - looks a lot like any other IDE. The same with Eclipse and RCP. IMO the future is not with windows only development.

John