Carl, thanks - this is a lot of great info. I think it's an important point that VB.NET programmers will be cheaper to hire (probably because they'll be a lot more of them)..
>As a business person first, and a developer second, there were a couple of factors we considered: 1) From time to time, I need to hire developers who are readily available and inexpensive (I know that doesn't sit well with developers looking for the highest dollar - but this is business and VB developers tend to be less expensive that Java, C#, or C++ developers). 2) I need to develop applications quickly (who doesn't? <g>) so I looked for features that enhance productivity. We're not dogmatic about it, but for the most part VB.NET is suitable for our needs. That doesn't preclude the use of C# where there's an absolute need or where a thirdparty framework or component are written in C# (i.e. - Mere Mortals).
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>An interesting aside to this... similar factors were considered in our choice of whether we would target Java or Microsoft technologies. Before starting Cerelogic, I was Director of Development for a dotBomb company. I had roughly 20 Java developers in my employ. Average licensing fees were about $20,000 per developer to support Java/Oracle development. Contrast that with Microsoft's EmpowerISV program which provides 5 Universal Subscription licenses for just $750 - well, that's a business no-brainer. Even if you have to purchase the Universal Subscription for full price, the cost is still far less than to have a comparable (if that's even possible) Java development environment.