My background: Was a pro programmer up to 10 years ago. Know VB well but not .NET. Know Access database well. Know HTML well(ish).
Application background: Developed a commercial website (ie used daily for my small business - 5 staff - real estate area) in Frontpage. It runs on Apache server very well. Also uses server side code written in Perl that I purchased - I do not know Perl.
Problem: Will need to seriously increase functionality of the website over the next couple of years. I do not want to learn Perl but want to build on my VB knowledge.
So what is the best path?
I was thinking of using the Microsoft Express tools to dip my toe in the 'full on' Microsoft web development environment. By 'full on' I mean to ditch the Apache server and go with Microsoft based web servers.
The tools look very powerfull and 'easy' to use and will probably go down that path unless someone says "boy are they rubbish because...you must use...".
eg If I read a similar thread asking about Microsoft's Virtual PC offering I would scream out "stay away, buy VMWARE for very few $s, very mature, powerfull, feature rich, stable, intuitive etc etc".
So are MS on the ball here or just late entrants into web development with a weak offering that looks good on the surface.
phew! that's it.
