There is a college here that starts you out with VB.Net, in the CS track, no less. They learn C++ the semester after that. I wish they would just drop VB.Net and start with C++ then let them take an elective with C# or something...
Wow. We are a 10 person company (entire company, not just dev staff), and we had a major issue and I called MS and the issues was fixed in 2 days. And no, it wasn't some wierd setting or some hotfix that was already available, it was a bug in 2008 R2. Minidumps, remote sessions, and long conference calls for 2 days, but they ended up providing some files in the end to work around it until the next patch.
Wait a minute... You are complaining that you are now forced to have updated looking and function software? Oh. The horror. That's a sure way to make your users mad. Sell them software today that looks like it was written 10 years ago... But wait, it was written 10 years ago.
You are completely pushing the philosophy of technology needs to remain the same and consistant through all of time. Not possible, ever. Technology HAS to evolve or we all sit at a standstill. If you don't want to learn new things and stay modern in technology, then you need to sign up for truck driving, not software development.
They (MS) didn't just sit around trying to find ways to piss you off by coming out with new technology. They released one, found a way to improve, and released that next. Quite blaming the vendors and put the blame squarely where it belongs, with people who refuse to learn and evolve with the technology.