Hi, Michael,

In no order of importance:

First, I responded to another forum member about 2 weeks ago, who asked questions similar to yours. It was message #942669 (and I just noticed that someone else referred to the message as well). One thing I forgot to mention in my original message ID...if you don't already, check out CoDe Magazine. They've had some great coverage of .NET over the years.

Second, from my own perspective...I've been working with .NET for about three years now, and consider myself generally about as productive as I am in VFP.

I had a bit of a tough time my first year, partly because I was so 'tied' to Fox's way of doing things (and a little stubborn about it!) and partly because I didn't have as much time as I would have liked. So after my first year, I was maybe 70% as productive, and then much closer after my second year. Everyone is different, though I know many who picked it up a little quicker than I did. Also, the amount of on-line information has increased in the last few years, making it a bit easier.

It's all about building a knowledge base, assembling reusable libraries, maybe utilizing a framework like Mere Mortals, etc.

Third, I mention this in my message, but it's worth repeating...the .NET forum has many messages over the last 2 years that start with the question..."I could do such and such in VFP...how do I do it in .NET?" (I know because I asked many myself!) Unless I'm reading your profile incorrectly, you have basic UT membership. Upgrade to premium membership so that you can go back and search messages. $130-something a year (or whatever it costs) will more than pay for itself in terms of the learning curve.

To ansewr your last question...given the choice, I will always chose .NET over VFP, except for instances where the client/users are running older hardware and can't upgrade. Last year I did a small invoicing and job/costing system for a construction company with 2 users...did it in .NET and MSDE in roughly the same amount of time it would have taken me in VFP.

Hope this helps...Kevin