I deal with web stuff all day every day at work, so that's definitely not what I would choose for a fun hobby project. It's not your best option if that's what

I deal with web stuff all day every day at work, so that's definitely not what I would choose for a fun hobby project. It's not your best option if that's what you're trying to get away from. Someone else mentioned .NET. There's also Delphi and Lazarus. Both are cross-platform and have full-fledged UI systems, without any of the web ecosystem nonsense. It's a totally different experience than web development.