For Win 32 programming Delphi - hands down is the most productive language. If you want to do programming in a managed environment then .NET is the way to go. However keep in mind that it is basically a moving target and is evolving rapidly. For example there is a huge lot of difference in WPF/WCF (.NET 3.0) and NET 2.0 - the paradigm has shifted rapidly between .NET 2.0 and 3.0. Java is a good choice if you have to do cross platform development. So are a numerous scripting language like python and especially Ruby. I have been developing in Ada, C/C++, Delphi and C# - I find myself to be most productive (At least for Windows programming) in Delphi and C#. MFC/ATL is a pain to use. cheers brat