>Hey JML,
>
>>hmmm....some food for thought:
>>http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/APIWar.html
>
>And if you're developing a Windows GUI app today using Microsoft's "official" latest-and-greatest Windows programming environment, WinForms, you're going to have to start over again in two years to support Longhorn and Avalon. Which explains why WinForms is completely stillborn. Hope you haven't invested too much in it.
>
>Ouch.

This is wrong.

Avalon objects can be used in addition to WinForms objects. For instance, the following is possible:

// WinForm Form
public class MyForm : System.Windows.Forms.Form
{
   // ...

   public void SomeMethod()
   {
      // Instantiate an Avalon form
      System.Windows.Window oWind = new System.Windows.Window();
      oWind.Show();
   }
}

This makes an app that mixes WinForms and Avalon. It is pretty simple, really. For an existing WinForms app, Avalon simply represents a whole set of additional controls.

WinForms is by far the best way to get ready for Avalon, for this very reason.

Markus