>>The big question is the vertical desktop markets. Most in those markets >>are slow to adopt new tools and tend to milk their user base with small >>insignificant upgrades. There is little pressure to redesign those apps >>to .NET.

>>I just purchased an app for running a cutter in a machine factory. I asked >>them if they planned to offer a .NET source code version which possibly >>could help in getting CAD data in XML format to the cutter. The answer >>was, 'we're looking into it'.

The idea of moving a vertical app from one lang to another is not a simple decision. Most people that buy vertical apps don't really care what they are written in. Most care more about the data platform. I have a client that makes vertical apps that use DBFs. They get lots of push back from clients because of using DBFs. THey are moving their data to SQL Server as we speak.

Corporations have the same decisions to make. It's not easy to re-write complex enterprise applications. It's also not cost effective if they are re-writing for the sake of re-writing. My clients are taking a more incremental approach. Fitting .NET in where it makes sense. It's a lot easier because they are already on SQL Server.

Thanks
Rodman