I have been doing Windows, MFC and GUI programming for several years and need to transition to .NET. While learning WinForms, I see that WPF is the new kid on the block. Does it still make sense to learn WinForms? Also, what's the best way for someone who has been used to low level details to just put those things aside and go with things like Spring, etc.
I don't mind learning new things, it's just that the appropriate direction is what I am confused about.
Moving forward, WPF is the thing. WinForm is good to know if you are maintaining older / legacy .NET application.
Best way to do anything is to actually do it :) Just pick it up while you are doing real work / sample project I think.
Winforms isn't dead. It's certainly simpler so if you just need a simple "textbox here" and "button there" you'll be able to create something quicker in winforms for sure.
If you're looking for a more robust UI WPF is the way to go. If you're familiar with OO concepts and recognize the link between XAML (the layout code) and the code behind (.Net) you should be able to pick it up pretty easily.