But it's not just the data engine - it's the size. With VFP the setups can be small and downloaded off the internet. EXE or DLL updates are even smaller. If a net footprint is too big to keep a prospects interest during a download then to some NET would not make sense either. Assuming a .NET Winform application....once the framework is installed on the local machine, updates can be easily pushed to the local client via the new Click-Once capability in .NET 2.0.
A well-architected app will only push down the client-side layer. Everything else would be on the application server. So the client updates can be about the same size.
Kevin