>Now I am convinced that we don't need/want it. After all- if you want a language that looks/acts/works like VB, why aren't you using VB?

Exactly.

Futhermore, if the .NET CLR doesn't fly, then VB and C# could virtually go up in smoke - talk about a boon for VFP.

There is no downside here. Whatever unfolds, we will still have a great tool and if the CLR succeeds, it will be that much easier to add VB to our skill-set.