I hope a broad question such as this hasn't been asked already but I couldn't find anything through searching.
I'm interested in making games for Windows as a hobby using C++. I've made games in the late 90s using the win32 API as a hobby and it worked fine. I've spent my time since writing business applications on UNIX and Windows; absent of video games, naturally. Now, in 2005, what method would be recommended: win32, MFC, .NET/C#, GTK?
The reason I ask is because while I can pick up the win32 API set quickly again, I'd rather spend my time learning something that will carry me into the next years.
From what I can gather--and news straight from MS is always a bit shaky--future editions of Windows will be using .NET along with Avalon, making the win32 API depreciated.
Where would my time be better spent?