>> I was not saying I believe everything I see on TV. Just making the point that the MSFT machine is marketing this pretty heavy and all developers should take notice. <<

It isn't just Microsoft, either. Here in Chicago there has for several weeks been a billboard along I-294, one of the busiest stretches of highway in the country, touting .NET. What's interesting about it, beyond seeing a software development tool advertised on a mass media format like a billboard, is that it was placed by a local consulting company, not Microsoft. Obviously they are making a big bet on .NET. And I agree with them. Although what Steve and others have said about the immaturity of 1.0 versions is well taken, there is no doubt in my mind .NET is going to be a huge market for years to come. Nor do I doubt that the significant time and effort I am investing in learning .NET will pay off.

Not only that, I like it. I have known for years that it would be smart to branch out into VB but something about VB always ticked me off. It just seemed aimed more at marginal developers than serious professionals. IMO VB.NET has changed that. It's fully object oriented, has a terrific IDE, and in general has about everything I want in a programming language/tool. I expect to be using mostly VB.NET for the next several years and don't think I'm going to mind it a bit.

Mike