>I don't agree with the Visual Studio approach. IMHO, it takes years to master >just one of the products in VS.

I agree with the exception that VS is good for consulting or IT groups that have projects which may require much of what VS has to offer.

I think the best solution for individuals (within a group) is to master a particular tool. The "jack of all trades" approach results in less than optimal solutions. I've met with some IT managers who actually think that there are multitudes of programmers who are highly experienced with both VB and VFP - I wonder where they got that idea :>)

There is a sentence in the MS Guide to VS 6.0 under "Choosing the Right Tools for the Job" which is geared to IT managers: "If you have a staff of experienced Microsoft Visual Basic developers, you'll want to work their strength. Expecting them to switch to a new tool and to become competent overnight might not be realistic." I guess not.