Mike,

>My prediction is it is exactly the opposite. Their plan is to get all C++/C/Java users to C# now, and then once the low level hard stuff is done, make VB.NET the premier development tool for the higher level easy stuff.

Interesting theory...and you are evil for concocting it <bg>.

Seriously though, I get to see a lot of the "behind-the-scenes, what's coming in the future" information and talk directly with members of each team, and Microsoft really does want people to use either C# or VB .NET, and they've already got plenty of great enhancements on the table for both languages.

It basically works this way...both teams have pretty much the same features on their hit lists, it's often a matter of what feature is higher priority for a given team. For example, MS is putting edit-and-continue into the next major release of the Framework. However, it's up to each of the language teams to implement this...you'll probably see it in VB .NET before C#, because the VB .NET is more focused on RAD...but you'll eventually see it in C#. On the other side of the coin, MS has already announced the following four OOP features for the next version of C#:

* Generics
* Iterators
* Partial Types
* Anonymous methods

Will all these features be in the next version of VB .NET? That remains to be seen, but I expect to see them get there eventually.

The teams' priority lists reflect the focus of the kind of developer each team is targeting. The VB .NET is definitely targeting the more entry-level developer, whereas the C# team is not...they prefer entry-level developers use VB .NET, while they target more advanced users for C#. It's interesting that at even at Microsoft, the choice of language is a religious issue, and there's a strong bias toward C# (much to the chagrin of the VB community). Look for future MS products written in managed code...the vast majority in C#.

I've spoken at several .NET user groups now and there is a definite difference between VB .NET-centric groups and C#-centric groups. The VB .NET groups are still trying to wrap their brains around inheritance, while the C# groups tend to have people coming from C++, C, Java, VFP, as well as higher-level VB 6 developers, allowing me to speak on topics that are more advanced. This is something Cathi Gero and I have talked about...it's really the main reason she decided to become a C# MVP rather than a VB .NET MVP.

This doesn't mean there aren't advanced VB .NET developers. I've met some extremely sharp VB .NET people such as Carl Franklin who really know their stuff...but this sort of developer is not the main target of the VB .NET team. Microsoft desperately wants VB 6 developers to move to VB .NET and they will do whatever it takes (and some of it may not be pretty)!

Based on these things, I see a strong future for both C# and VB .NET.