>I like your analogy except for one thing, Bill Gates, the captian of the MS Fleet, is not on the VFP ship, he is on the VB - VC catamarang (sp?).
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>VFP has three assests: the DBF back end, a somewhat true OOP and a committed group of programmers. While he has been adding some VB features to VFP (toss the dog a bone?), he has also been adding VFP features to VB and Access (Rushmore).

Rushmore was added to the Jet Engine, which is used by both VB and Access. Jet will disappear in favor of OLE-DB and ADO. ADO *is* VFP.

>At Orlando I called VFP6 "Visual FoxBasic" because I saw it becoming more VB like. The question remains, however, "What to do about the two assests?" I think Gates has already answered the question (and the certification plan seems to confirm it): allocate the dbf backend to the roll of front or middle tier (non-critical) data keeping, and phase out OOP in favor of the COM and ADO.

All the tools will become very similar, in much the same way the Office applications are similar, but there will still be different products for different uses, and VFP will be part of it.

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>I don't see MS adding OOP to VB, and VC already has it.

VB won't get OOP for two reasons. 1) The VB kernal will need to be rewritten. 2) Most programmers see OOP as being too difficult.

>The lack of a certification route, in the eyes of industry, removes VFP from consideration as a development tool. MS knows that. If certification weren't important they wouldn't bother with it for VB and VC, too say nothing of their various end-user applications. Old folks like myself can ride out the remainder of their careers in VFP with no problems. Younger programers have to think ahead about their certifiable skills set and employability. You are living in denial if you don't think that a mass migration away from VFP will be taking place in the near future. And, migrants won't be asking for permission to leave. Professional programmers don't wrap their tools with gold veneer and genuflect before them. And, they don't have just one tool in their tookbox. When their tools wear out they are replaced. When horses were put aside in favor of the automobile blacksmiths retrained or retired.

VFP is FAR from being worn out, and the certification issue is being fixed.

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>I think VFP is a fabulous tool, but without the UNQUALIFIED support of MS the hand writing is on the wall.
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>My prediction of VFP's future: the dbf engine will be added as an option to VB and/or VC, but probably without the command line. Then, sometime in the next few years, it and VFP will be discontinued.

You're dead wrong. The future of data access is OLE-DB and ADO, which means ANY type of file can be used for data. VFP will continue to be there.

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>PS - I don't need your flames, but I value your opinion.
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>Jerry