>Good reasons, but there are a couple more pieces you're missing. The big one is the server, Windows.NET and IIS6. We haven't seen much of those, and while the stability of the OS will be nice, they'll take IIS6 apart with a fine tooth comb.
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I am not ignoring the .Net server. Of anything, most that entails a name change only. Where VS has undergone a radical change - the server side has not. Passport is on ASP .Net. The stuff works today.

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I'm not saying MS doesn't have the best platform, in fact, at the moment, they have the only one thats not more than a cloud of smoke (Sun ONE), but like I said, most of it will come down to the servers.
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You can't discount the development environment. The servers are important - but not any more so than before...

>The language independence may not be as important as OS independence. Take a look at what Kylix/Delphi offer as far as .NET and ONE support on Windows AND Linux. Seems to me that the people making decisions to go ahead with projects woudl be more interested in using one syntax for two platforms instead of two syntaxes for one platform. Plus, the flexibility in the choosing the server (remember when Gartner said "Dump IIS NOW!") coudl be another key point.
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There is but on OS - and it is called Windows. I view this issue from a developer's perspective. What provides the most opportunity for me - as a developer. I develop for one OS - Windows. I have no reservations whatsoever about that. The war was won a long time ago. Linux on the desktop? I don't see it happening. As for other server OS's (unix, linux, etc...) - I'll cede that to others.

Speaking from a developer standpoint, the language/object independence of VS cannot be over-emphasized.

>VS.NET does look cool, and for Windows develoeprs, it woudl be a crime to ignore it when it is finally released. But as far as the end all to be all, I'd like to see a couple more Web Service platform offerings (IBM's in particular, particulary in the Open Source avenue) before I decide where the future will land.
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I'll put my $ on the MS-backed technologies. As you have said - it is the only one that is not vapor. The folks from Sun talk a good game. Perhaps if they stopped whining about the big bad bully that is MS - maybe they will actually deliver product.

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Quite literally, and ironically, the best product for creating Web services at the moment is VFP7 ;-)
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Perhaps from a VFP developer's standpoint it is the best product. I would need to see the criteria before I would annoint it as the best tool for web services. A good tool - yes. The best tool - I would not go that far.

Example - if I go to a company and I have two choices: offer VFP and not get the job - offer something else and get the job - VFP would not be the best tool for the job...< vbg > In these arguments - the issues don't boil down to technical ones...