> If I had to guess, I'd say one of the existing framework developers would probably be the best bet. Visual FoxExpress would be a good candidate. If they started as soon as VB7 was available, and it's technically possible, 6-12 months. But I'm optimistic - it might take a lot longer since all you'd probably be able to save is the class interfaces. All the code would no doubt have to be rewritten.
Twelve months might be reasonable. I don't think 6 would cut it. I'd guess 12 just to do the framework and another 6-8 if we were going to have a toolset similar to VFE's. Give me 200-250 people willing to invest a grand in exchange for a copy upon release and we'll do it. :-)