>i am sure this has been asked a million times, but please advise what is the quickest route to developing web apps with the smallest learning cure.
>TIA!!

It has been my experience that there is no such thing... (quick route to developing web apps with a small learning curve).

There are a number of free sites available to teach you web development...

if you want .Net, www.gotdotnet.com

There are also sites that are for VFP based web development...
www.west-wind.com
www.afpweb.com

You could also look into thin-client answers like terminal server or citrix products.