Interesting. You're going to build a Python desktop app? :-)

For Web alone there are many choices. But once you're talking about Web, desktop, services and system code, .NET makes more sense than anything else IMHO because it covers way more bases with a common skillset.

+++ Rick ---

>I read this week that C# developers are in high demand on Dice.com, so if that's your direction, there's support for your conclusion.
>
>Job markets, by their nature, reflect that past: a company that adopted .Net 3 or 4 years ago will be seeking .Net developers today.
>
>Ask a different question, e.g., what application platform is growing today, and shows no signs of diminishing tomorrow, and you might get a different answer.
>
>One interpretation of MS's shift in emphasis to Web 2.5 as a UI platform is that .Net adoption has peaked. I haven't seen numbers to support that, even from the blogs who favor that interpretation, so who knows (Microsoft isn't saying, to my knowledge). But the biggest reasons (at least for me) for developing in .Net (tight integration with a managed code OS and write once, run everywhere) never happened and aren't going to happen. The infrastructure is good; but the parts of the infrastructure I would actually use in a business app are available everywhere, and often (e.g., in Python) in much easier-to-use form, and with greater variety.
>
>>>>Oh just go with C#. Why fight it?
>>>
>>>Yep, just drop pants and bend over. It's only Microsoft, and they never screwed developers up.
>>
>>Well, MS screws developers over with some technologies, I agree- Silverlight, WebForms, windows phone, vb, vfp. But it's probably good to grab the best parts from the mess - C#, SQL Server, MVC, etc are the good parts imho. After all they did spend a billion dollars on R&D - some of it is bound to be pretty good if for no other reason than the high level of minds working on some projects.