>bottom line advice - Build on your VFP and SQL experience while adding VB .NET to your future skill set.

Greg, I believe this advice is sound (Jon take note). In fact, I have been doing similar. To be specific, I'm creating VFP apps now with SQL Server/MSDE back end. I've not abandoned DBFs for certain projects where MSDE does not make sense. As far as .Net is concerned, I'm basically just reading selected magazine articles and experimenting with areas of it as time permits (mostly ASP.Net - not WinForms). Most of my training time/budget right now is going to deepening my understanding of SQL Server. Only so much time is available, so something has to give. When Whidbey is released, that will probably coincide with the completion of some SQL Server material I'm working through, so I may look into .Net a little deeper at that point. I think this course of action gives me more bang for the buck in that knowledge of VFP can still be leveraged with SQL Server. Going straight to .Net leverages VFP skills only to a small degree. I pretty much settled on this after initially trying to go too deeply into .Net too soon. I think some other folks are finding this out, also.

I want to say, Greg, that you have made a number of excellent points in several posts this weekend. SBT is actually what first gave me exposure to Foxpro, and as you say, it is not going away anytime soon because the small/intermediate sized business that are using it are not going to abandon their past investment in this area.