Having one tool in which we can develop both classic PowerBuilder applications as well as .NET applications is something I've already suggested in another forum. That’s why my suggestion to migrate to PB.NET came with some big IF’s. IF SAP makes it faster, IF SAP gets rid of all the bugs, and IF SAP shows full commitment to the tool to increase its features.
PowerBuilder is a tool, not just a language. And as a tool it has done a wonderful job integrating two technologies, Windows applications and SQL data sources, by means of the Datawindow. But software technology has followed new directions since PB appeared and PB has not been able to fully adapt to this changes. These include web development, in the form of HTML page generation and client side programming (e.g. JavaScript), and mobile apps development. These new paradigms involve not just two but three or more technologies which demand new tools to integrate them so again we can easily develop applications for them.
But also the new .NET programming model for developing applications for Windows introduced by Microsoft in the beginning of 2000 signaled a clear direction as to where Windows applications development was headed in which standard, intermediate, managed code is produced by whatever syntax you like. So IF you don’t want to develop web applications and IF you don’t want to develop mobile apps then PB.NET makes good sense as a migration platform for current PB shops that currently develop for the Windows platform but are stuck with what PB Classic offers and need the extended functionality of .NET.
I don’t see many differences working with the PB.NET IDE than with PB Classic IDE, besides the issues already mentioned. I know it’s a different IDE but one should be up to speed in a week or two. The IDE is built so you are able to do the same as with PB Classic (e.g. the Datawindow painter is there). And I expect the gap between PB.NET and PB Classic to reduce in the future (IF SAP shows commitment) until there is no difference at all. Maybe this will take SAP less time than it will take to rewrite PB Classic to enable it for .NET programming.