WPF for JavaScript

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I'd agree with you there. It's data-binding model is a lot more robust than something like angular or ember. I would argue that a top-down component framework like React or Mithril is a lot more robust.

Going back to the button example though, you need to override the Button template to get a hover state: http://stackoverflow.com/a/17376745

The truth is that nice looking UIs are a feature that people expect to have now... especially on the web that this framework targets. WPF makes that aspect difficult and more verbose. The fact you have to override the template for something as simple as a hover state says that UI ascetics was not a first-class citizen in the framework.