Jay,

>Ahhh, Walter. Glad to have you back. Seriously. I have missed the times you actually tried to discuss things logically.

>I'll address the question buried in the heart of your post that you probably thought I would avoid. I personally do not have experience with developing in .NET, but surely that can't be an issue to you? ;-)

Nope, It is not. If you don't have real life experience in .NET it does not mean you are not qualified to make an informed statement. See the lists below. I do read a lot of .NET stuff and in my discussion with .NET guys I started studying ADO.NET into detail. So I know damn well where the ADO.NET falls short. I do read articles, magazines, talk to people with first hand experience and read numerous posts on this subject posted by other members I respect here on the forum. But if you're not willing to believe I can make valid statments on the issue then go and talk to for example to John Ryan who seems to have more first hand experience on the issue than the load crowed and has worked with .NET form about the day it was released. Listen to Rick Strahl what he has to say on the issue. Don't forget to ask Cetin B on his opinion.

You'll get a total different picture than the 'magical silver bullet' impression you get from the load crowed.

>The point that I would like to make here is that I have never, ever argued .NET over Foxpro. Because I know I am not qualified. Having never actually used the product in a production environment I would feel that I couldn't possibly be taken seriously. My issues are simply stating that you have a lot of opinions, and opinions from others, about what you think the facts are. Get back to me after you have actually used it for something other than tracking your CD collection. Then I'll take your arguments on .NET seriously.

Jay, I don't think you understand the way software development works. Most architects never have done any practical work on the buildings they design. They don't select materials based on the practical experience they've got. Instead they rely on the published articles, imperical numbers and facts, but foremost on their theoretical knowledge and creativity and intuition.

I simply won't develop .NET applications until it is time to do so from a business point of view. In order to know if and when i've got to move, I'd better be well informed and have analyzed what the advantages and disadvantages are. So I've done that in the past, I'm contineuing to do that in the future.

Basically what you're saying here is that you should just blindly step onto the .NET boat and you are only able to judge if that was a wise move when you've completed your first major application. Won't you agree that is a little too late ?? From a business point of view that is the biggest blunder you could make (learn the lesson of those JAVA shops).

Of course you could rely on a few big mouths promissing you the 'silver bullet' and ignoring the warnings you get from others, but that also is a perfect way to get bankrupt if things turn out differently.

No, better is to analyze the issue yourself, gather the info you need to make a decision, then you've got only yourself to blame when you made the wrong decision when thing turn out wrong. Note that I'm in this stage. And I'm not ashamed to speak out loud about the disadvantages I find, because I know the load crowed won't come up with those until they are faced with it.

Do you really think that any IT management is going to gather all practical experience before deciding which development platform is suitable for implementing a strategic software solution? do you ???? Do you really think that the programmers are going to decide which development platform is going to be used ??

So in your opinion how is the IT management going to make an informed decision ???

Walter,