>I guess it's not hung, it's hungover.

That's sums it up quite well :)

>Presently, dot net looks like the thing to do if you buy the hype.

I think that's the issue. Over in the UK, Fox/VFP was never really that big to start with. A goodly proportion of development just morphed from VB over to .NET. There isn't really any hype, it's just out there, every day technology and businesses and developers just use it. Of course, there is also lots of Java development too. So, I don't actually perceive the hype you allude to.

>But... I've heard so much hype from Microsoft over the years, so much FUD as well, so many dirty tactics (been a victim of that several times), that there'd have to be a real lot of money up front before I'd trust Microsoft again.

I don't think you have to trust MS if you don't want to. There are so many good technologies around nowadays, you can really take your pick.