Jeff,

I didn't jump to respond because this isn't an area I am very knowledgeable in. WRT:

"I suppose my real question, is .NET going to become the only option for windows development soon?

While most of the .NET vision seems unrealized, as a development tool set I'm not sure how much competition it will have (how much is left?).

I *do* see .NET-specific jobs being advertised here. Mostly by body shops, though, and this is MSFT's home turf, so some local businesses like a few insurance companies have deep-rooted MSFT platform loyaties. I would bet that .NET becomes the dominant framework for Windows development just because of MSFT's ability to drive that part of the market. What I wonder, though, is what success MSFT will have *overall* in advancing the .NET model, such as it is, in a market that is gowing increasingly wary on a lot of fronts (licensing, price, security).

In your place, I think I would be trying to pump up resume bits that are cross-platform and would spread your bets. C++ springs to mind (well, you said you hated scripting languages, so I had to come up with something!!) and somehow working more Linux into the resume with Windows, if you can find a way, couldn't hurt.

Oh, an almost complete tangent, but I just saw something really bizarre in the Seattle PI newspaper and I had to ask this cautionary question:
Does working with .NET make you drink the grape Kool-Aid?