'Hopefully' Starting a Sentence

[Grammarholic]

I know there are different trains of thought with respect to this.

Do you personally object to using 'hopefully' at the beginning of a sentence? Yes or no?
Is it absolutely incorrect to do so?

Example: Hopefully, we can have a definitive answer by Thursday.

Instead of: It is hoped that we can have a definitive answer by Thursday.

Thanks.

[Mister Micawber]

No and no. It is too pervasive to rage against, even if one were interested in doing so.
_________________
Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Goronsky1]

I'm with Mr. Micawber on this one. 'Hopefully' can also mean 'if all goes well'. It can also mean 'in a hopeful manner'; however, I prefer the former.

Hopefully, we'll be out of debt by 2011.

Dictionary.com — USAGE NOTE:

Although some strongly object to its use as a sentence modifier, 'hopefully' meaning 'it is hoped (that)' has been in use since the 1930s and is fully standard in all varieties of speech and writing: Hopefully, tensions between the two nations will ease. This use of 'hopefully' is parallel to that of 'certainly', 'curiously', 'frankly', 'regrettably' and other sentence modifiers.