>>Another point, Small and Mid Size Business might be reluctant to spend a lot of money to simply convert Biz Apps to .Net when their needs can be and are met by Development Tools such as VFP on LANs.
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>I agree. But this doesn't really say anything about how good the .NET development platform is, which is what Bill was trying to slam.

Mike;

I would like to separate .NET development and clients for a moment. There are not many .NET applications that have been deployed as far as I know. In fact there are not too many .NET developers compared to those who use other development tools.

When .NET becomes a common tool amongst software developers we will know more about all this. What in fact is a better RAD tool – VFP or VS Studio? It depends is one statement that could be made. Should any developer use .NET because it is the latest tool from Microsoft and not give consideration to other factors?

I can see where you and Bill are coming from. IMO .NET is not ready for “prime time”. Once the learning curve is overcome and version 2.0 is released we should know much more about the position of this product. If my boss comes to me and requests that I create a .NET application I will jump at the chance. Being paid to learn is a nice position to be in. For my personal consulting business I will continue to use the best tool for the job which is not .NET at this time. Perhaps that will change in the future.

Tom