this question flashed in my mind after i watched partIII this weekend..
what's gonna happen to the family after vincent took over? would he follow the same path that his uncle took? or would he make his own way? and what that way would be like?

Puzo

Well if the ending of GFIII is any indication, Vincent did not take the Corleone Family very far. It probbly got eaten up by rival Families, as was intended to happen to Michael at the end of GF.

And while Vincent may have had Vito's 'strength'...he apparently did not posess Michael's 'head for big deals'.

It's over.

Apple

interesting!..any other opinions?

I think Vincent would have done ok. The death of Michael would have affected him and he would try to be a man like him

Or is that bullshit?

As I said in another Vincent thread near this one: Michael probably offered Vincent the Donship to substitute his lust for power for his lust for Mary. Vincent would have taken over whatever was left of the "illegitimate" Corleone business that Michael wouldn't be interested in once he got Immobiliare, leaving Michael totally legit. What would Vincent have gotten? Probably very little at that point. He might have taken over Zasa's former empire with Zasa and The Ant gone, and Altobello assassinated. I bet Michael would have retained Neri.
An interesting question: Had Vincent become Mr. Big in NYC Mafia, would he eventually have clashed with Michael? Probably not, because, as Apple said, he didn't have Michael's head for the big deals. But power is an end unto itself. Who knows?

After III, Michael is done with anything that came before. He is not involved with any aspect of the business, be it legit or not.

Whatever is left of the Corleone family, Vincent is in control of it, but I'm not sure what he would do with it. My guess is that he would take on a lot of things that Sonny would have wanted, like drugs, which would eventually be his downfall.

Since he was after all Santino's son and (according to Auntie Connie) posessed Vito's 'strength' but lacked Michael's 'head for big deals'...he would most likely have eventually met a similar fate to that of his father.

Apple

He may have had his father's famous temper (you know it toured in 5 countries) but let's not forget that Michael schooled him on quite a lot; most importantly, how to channel that anger.

But THE MOST IMPORTANT lesson Vincent learned under Michael's guidance is that all pezzonovanti are ultimately scumbags who are not as protected as they may think. Heck, Michael learned this long ago when the prevailing wisdom was that "You can't kill a New York City Police Captain." As long as you're willing and able to weather whatever shitstorm rains down afterward, you'll be alright.