>Are you saying that VFP 9 Pro, right out of the box, is deficient in some way and requires more tools?

Absolutely. That's exactly what I'll say to you. VFP 9.0 has a number of things that it does poorly. There are a number of things that VFP simply cannot do, especially if you stipulate out-of-the-box. Out-of-the-box takes away one of the things that VFP is really really good at which is extensibility. And, three of your additional terms clearly highlight some of the other deficencies in VFP that you are obviously aware of. There's no harm in admitting that there are certain things that a particular development tool doesn't do well. As an independent consultant, it's my job to pick the best tool for the job at hand and not force something that is not considered a best fit.

That having been said, there are a number of things that Visual Studio is no good at as well. There's no shame in admitting that. If a developer/consultant suggests that Visual Studio is best at every aspect of development, then they are either kidding themselves or wholefully ignorant of the other tools available. The same goes for pitting Visual Studio against Visual FoxPro when it comes to data - it's just silly (not to mention false) to try and say Visual Studio does data as good or better than VFP. I would no more have created the current mobile application I am building for a client with Visual FoxPro than I would have created the last data centric desktop application I created for a client in Visual Studio.

Your additional wager terms are transparent Kevin, despite your protests. I've seen your posts from time to time and believe you to be a fairly intelligent man and a skilled .NET developer, but to pretend that you added the terms for any other reason than to point out the deficencies in VFP or to hobble Jeff's ability to respond affirmatively to your counter offer is patently absurd. The loss of a small portion of my respect for you may not mean much, but you should perhaps give some thought to the fact that these threads are read by potential clients at times (I hire contractors every year), and you're not painting yourself in a very good light at the moment. Most client's prefer a consultant who is honest and knows the limitations of the tools in which they work. My two cents, take it or leave it.