>I don't think the VS IDE would be hard for me at all. The thing I like about the desktop apps with C# is that you can grab a control and drag it onto the form, set a few properties and bind some data. That is somewhat similar to what I've been doing with VFP all these years. The syntax is C as opposed to VFP - but it still seems a lot more 'similar' to what I've been doing. ASP.NET MVC you can't really do that (or at least I don't think you can)....so it's quite a bit different. But hey - if that's the direction things are going, then I should just deal with it. I mentioned to my boss here that WebForms in ASP.NET would probably be easier for me to learn because of this - but she said that MVC is the 'new and better way'.. I will try to get oriented with it via these training videos - but I suspect at some point I will have to pay someone to teach me or pay to take a class somewhere - I seem to learn better that way.
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Yeah, RAD-style development (drag & drop, properties, events, methods, etc.) is pretty much gone in the modern mainstream development world. That's still my favorite style of development -- easy to understand and productive -- but you get used to the new stuff. One day, simplicity will prevail, but it seems like things have been headed in the other direction for a while.

As far as the desktop, Win32 will be around for a long time, but Microsoft has done a horrible job protecting their crown jewel. IMO, web UI still can't match the productivity and interactivity of a desktop app, but it has gotten better in recent years. Folks want apps that run on the web and mobile these days. Web development skills should have more longevity than desktop.