Hey Thomas,

>You are Microsoft. You have power. You convince IT leaders to use Visual Studio .NET. It becomes the industry “standard”. Why? Microsoft said so!

In this context, "IT leaders" is an oxymoron ... :)

I agree, that for most "IT followers", .NET is a given ... even though they may have no idea what the central theme might be about.

However, there will still be organizations where cost-benefit analysis and feasibility studies play a role ... and if your "only alternative" is .NET, you won't get much respect.

Given, that if one works in an organization where .NET (and MS) is the last word, then .NET is the logical route ... mostly because you won't even need to make the choice.

But, if you're independent, I think you better be prepared to show how you can get "there" without having to do it all over again.

>Microsoft does not mention VFP. With Java out there – things are a little different I have noticed. However, with the lack of opportunities in the software development world it is hard to say what will happen.

I've done some work in VB.NET and C# ... compared to VFP for doing "database intensive programming", it often feels like I'm writing in Assembler. Most people know that; MS knows that (they admit that in some of their white papers); but MS won't admit that because it probably just makes things simpler for them (admitting that there are easier ways to get from A to B that doesn't fall under the .NET umbrella).

In the final analysis, as far as MS goes, I don't think it's about VFP, or VB.NET or C# ... It's about "Web Services" ... and how MS can make a buck from it.

MS is trying to get a lock on "authentication" via Passport; I think they're also into E-Payments: providing the Servers (Hardware and Databases) and trying to standardize the infrastructure and access. Next will be weather and reservations. All pay-as-you-go (to MS).

Just like Windows frequently "phones home", if MS can get organizations to adopt .NET, then those organizations will be (literally) hooked even tighter into MS.

>My experience is that IT leaders do not like to think. They read a magazine and find the answer. Rather than take a chance and learn what tool is best for any job they rely upon Microsoft to make corporate decisions. That is safe for your career. Corporate bull you know what! :)

Agreed ... But one can never know where one might wind up next ...

My current contract is writing COBOL application servers (embedded SQL) running on Unix boxes, with VB (Windows Pro) front ends, and SYBASE database servers ... and talking to legacy applications (DB2, IMS, Oracle) via IBM's Message Queue Services.

.NET didn't help me one iota; though we are going to be using SOAP for interconnecting over the Web. Architecture.