M vs. UM - An introspection into the future.

Question

Ok, so we all are aware that managed languages are becoming the fad now right? .NET is upon everything; its reign is working its way through our CPUs (well, those of us that dual boot - hehe -) and we basically have to deal with it.
Let's look at this from a more serious case, however.
First off, I am not Anti-Windows (ok, well, maybe I am to an extent - but, I still find uses for it so I can't quite be completely biased). Second of all, I hope for this to be an objective discussion, as most of the community here appears to be just that - objective. It's a little hard to keep this kind of a pace, given that there are many, many flame wars and "language holy wars" on this particular topic, but, alas, we are adults (well, I'd imagine at least most of us are).
The hardest language I have programmed in is C++. My interests are more geared towards learning the actual ins and outs of an operating system; I plan to learn Assembly code eventually once I've acquired enough knowledge from the realm of C.S. and learning of the mathematics behind things. For now, I spend my time with Web Development in PHP since it's easier to actually make money with.
My background is primarily in C#, C++, and PHP. I've dabbled in other languages here and there, but ultimately these are the three languages I can pick up and just start coding with right off the bat.
/Off-topic
Every programmer knows that C++ is unmanaged, can be faster, and C# is managed and is thus slower - even with a JIT compiler.
Now, despite this, C# is widely used and evermore popular today - especially since it operates off of the .Net framework, which is much, much more easier to use than, say, the STL of C++.
Of course, with recent advancements in C++0x, I'm sure we'll see some nicer things coming this way ("shared_ptr<void*>" anyone?). Qt, is definitely a great, great framework which supports RAD, or Rapid Application Development. OpenGL gives the programmer more control over their graphics render, especially with languages like GLSL, or the OpenGL Shading Language.
On the flip side, C# does a lot of things which C++ can do, and makes life much easier, especially considering how everything is managed for the programmer. With Xamarin's new MonoDroid framework, life has become easier in terms of making mobile devices pretty much cross platform.
From my perspective, I'd say C# is an overall good language, and the same goes to C++.
But...
There's more to it than meets the eye. The question is how do these languages affect our PCs which we oh, so love?
Let's look at this from a different perspective.
Kurtzweil himself has said it: the rate of technological progression is not only increasing, but increasing exponentially. (Quantum Computer, anyone? Hmm? Hmm?)
How this applies to the topic at hand is in regards to memory management, and how our moneys our spent on obtaining the latest and greatest technologies. C# allocates more RAM typically than a [well-written] C++ program. This is because it's managed. Yet, when thinking about it, is this part of the reason why as every two years passes the standard amount of RAM per computer just suddenly doubles? Take Windows for example: it's slow, and I mean slow. Could this be because it allocates so much memory in its managed programs, that we have to go out and buy stronger and faster hardware for our CPUs?
Back in the year 2000, anyone who had a gigabyte of RAM was totally set. AND, while Java was definitely popular, FAR more programs were written in C++ then.
Hmm...
Your thoughts, please.

Answer 1

C++ might actually gain some momentum with the C++11 standard - personally I like it. The main problem with C++ is that people often abuse it.
People always abuse languages, except C++ is probably more "abusable" than other languages.
An example (that also works in C) would be storing pointers in integers... that's just silly. A C++ only example would be deriving an STL class and using an undocumented function/variable/behaviour that is most probably specific to the implementation on your specific system/compiler. etc. etc.
C will always be there. C11 is also quite nice. The problem with C though is that not even the C99 standard is supported everywhere yet... STILL!
Layers over layers. Each language has its place*. I don't though though, that we need a successor for C. What we need is a compiler that supports all standards properly, which works on all systems.
We will always need native code, so C will most likely stay for a long while.
We will probably always "need" GUIs**, and while C works, it's probably a better idea to use a language that doesn't need to be compiled to native code, though I'd reject any language which cannot at least be JIT compiled... GUIs are so slow these days.
ASM will always be required, otherwise there soon won't be any people left who can work on the lowlevel compilers.
* Often the place is the trashcan.
** Yay for terminals... and I fear the day when GUIs get completely replaced by voice-systems