I worked for a company for about two years then I quit and almost left programming for a while.
Now am trying to renew my programming knowledge. I am a .NET Developer and a MCSD. I can see that there are a lot of new technologies that I need to learn: WPF, WCF etc.
Windows 7 is knocking at the door now and I want to upgrade. VS 2008 and 2010 beta are already here. I feel I can't catch my breath just to read about all the new stuff.
Where should i start from?
When it comes to learning technology, its like a giant donut. You can begin anywhere... just start with something that interests you, and branch out from there.
There are a great bunch of samples for WPF and one bigger sample for WCF from MS. I started by having a look at the WPF samples that are solving/illustrating similar issues than the ones I had to implement.
I always find it best to learn a new programming language, paradigm, or framework by using it in an actual project. You might not be lucky enough to have such a project in your day job, but if not, create something simple and fun, like a blog, or a photo gallery, etc. Start with something simple and iterate adding more functionality from whatever toolbox you want to learn about.
Microsoft has a pretty decent site for learning their technologies: Windows Client
If you really like to have a physical book I have one of the ones from Apress that is well presented but with WPF the best way to learn it is to use it and when you hit a wall start to google for it, there are a lot of great blogs that address common issues. Fire up VS2008 and create some WPF projects, you don't need to have 'a learning project', I found myself making a bunch of projects when I was learning to focus on one aspect at a time.
Get involved with your local developer's community. Attend training and sessions during evenings, weekends, lunches, etc. Make contacts. Learn. Repeat.
I was very much in the same position you were - I was originally a VB6 developer for quite a few years, refusing to move on to .NET... Then I got a new job based on my previous experience and was forced into learning .NET.
I started with learning C#.NET and WPF. I had absolutely no experience in either of these and it was hard. It was damned hard, coming from a Winforms-VB6 background heading straight into OO, XAML and a pretty-much-completely-new-IDE. With the help of my peers, a few good books (see below) and a lot of Red Bull, I'm finally good enough to pump out project after project with flashy WPF interface and a large C# backbone.
Use me as an example. Learn something you haven't experienced, it'll bring that fire back into programming and you'll enjoy it all the more. You'll never quit again ;)
Excellent WPF Resources:
Stack Overflow (hehe)
Apress Pro WPF in C#
SAM'S WPF Unleashed
WPF In Action with VS2008
Programming in .NET 3.5 also gave me a massive helping hand when trying to understand the differences and the new technologies.