In your opinion, do you think .NET is a good option for developing small business apps that need lots of tender loving care?

Yes I do. As a matter of fact, I am developing this kind of app using C# right now.

What other development platforms did you consider?

I really haven't looked into other alternative right now. I was hired to re-write a poorly-written C# application, so I did not look for alternatives. I just went with .NET One can write bad code in any language {s}