FWIW I've used dot net and am currently learning Ruby/Rails. No simple answer to your qns but you might want consider some other factors besides IDEs etc (BTW - try Netbeans IDE for Ruby Rails - free and pretty good but no page designer AFAIK). (or Ruby In Steel if you have Visual Studio), Other things that I think are important:
- type of app you are developing - dot net is much more corporate/ institutional; ruby/rails is more startup, open source etc. - coding/languages - pick your poison here (Ruby vs VB or C#) (I prefer Ruby/Python; Static vd Dynamically typed language). Be sure to learn some Ruby coding before jumping into Rails. - try writing and debugging a couple of small programs in both languages and see which you prefer - I like the clean syntax of Ruby/ Python (no braces) vs C#. FWIW I think you can code faster in Ruby once you get going - but there is a learning curve. - perhaps most important - surrounding ecosystem (fellow coders, support, community etc) for when you need help. - maybe it's just me, but I get the sense that the dot net world is more about business and definitely more corporate - Ruby/Rails is more for the independent minded out there - more about coding for the fun of it. - Hosting - I think dot net hosting is (a little) more expensive than Ruby/Rails/MySQL hosting - difference might be small - but with dot net you may also need SQL Server hosting which adds a bit more expense. - other things you stand to learn - if you go with ruby chances are you will pick up some cross platform skills with complementary technologies (e.g. Linux, MySql etc.). With dot net you are more likely to live in the Windows/Microsoft world. Nothing wrong with that, but as a developer it's a good idea to have a variety of skills vs a single Platform skill set.
Either way you won't go wrong - just do your homework and make an informed decision. The big investment is your time.
Hope this helps, Brendan
