Man I love InfoPath. I've only used it a bit, but the whole XML in the background, generate your own schema or use one to start with, then save or submit to W/S - it just is cool! I bet the productivity of those who use it regularly is off the charts. On the "oh crap" side is the fact that everyone needs to purchase a copy to use it (there is a web version but that's different).
So when a new project required disconnected forms based input, I looked to Adobe LiveCycle Forms ES. Just the mention of this I knew I was in for a trip down the Amazon (think snakes and quick sand). So I downloaded the 1 month trial, and within 5 minutes was emailing the XML output from a completed form. WOW! it's almost perfect. All I need is to change that to SAVE the XML and we've got out Disconnected scenario. Enter snakes and quicksand. It doesn't exist. You need a copy of Adobe LiveCycle Forms ES on each laptop to save a form's data to XML. There is even talk of licensing terms which limit a forms use to X number of activities.
The form is like an app - treat it that way. Why can a dev tool like VB create an app to be freely distributed, but a dev tool that creates forms cannot?