Jim,

IMHO, your vision of "the last sp to the last version" is just another in a long line of predictions of the doom of FoxPro since 1992.

While Ken and Randy and Calvin and YAG and all those who have gone before them have made huge contributions to FoxPro, no one individual is responsible for the longevity of the product. It's the users that just won't let it go.

I think turning development over to the users may be the best thing that has happened to FoxPro in a very long time and may even prove to be it's salvation. There are some pretty talented people at the Sedna helm.

FoxPro is also my preferred way to make my living. Only time will tell how long that will remain a viable strategy. Recent statistics seem to indicate a resurgance of VFP. I sincerely believe my VFP skills will take me comfortably into retirement, but that doesn't mean I'm going to bury my head in the sand. In fact, I am presently working on a C# .NET application for a Pocket PC. (At least it's FoxPro data on the back end.) If there's one thing I've learned in 38 years of programming it's you can't have too many tools at your disposal.

Bob


>Bob,
>
>My whole point was that it appears to me that Microsoft's active role in the fox is about to come to an end. In my opinion, (and baring any unforseen roadmap changes) I can see the last sp to the last version. You have no idea how I wish this was not the case.
>
>Does this mean I will stop using it. No. As I said, I will continue to use it. Heck if the coffee mugs are any indication of how well the fox is made..., (the cups should last for another 5-8 years). Those same cups have been on my desk since the early ninetys.
>
>While almost no one knows me, (I usually have my head burried in VFP and am really a quiet sort of guy who works alone), I have made a very good living writing apps based on VFP. I have one app that I developed in 1989 and have upgraded it every two years since. That one little app has been a cash cow and I am very gratefull. I doubt that I could have done it without the fox. Foxpro is how I make my living, it's how I put my kids through school, it's how I paid for my house, it's how I spent a large portion of the last 15 years of my life.
>
>Will I continue to use it? Yes. However, it does make me sad that it appears that after sedna and sp2 there won't be any additional updates from Microsoft. Just the fact that MS gave us a new license for the xbase utilities makes this very clear (in my opinion). Don't get me wrong, I appreciate this and I think Ken saw the need and came through for us on this.
>
>Will I do any more updates to my software with VFP? Yes. At least one more. After that, who knows.
>
>Will there be any updates or new versions of VFP after sedna and sp2? I really doubt it.
>
>Will VFP continue to run on the newer versions of windows? Maybe, but if Microsoft's track record with vfp is similar to what it was with fpw2.6 and the divide by zero and then the cheap USB printer issues, then I give it 4 or less viable years after sedna. All of the issues may or may not be Microsoft's fault, but things will change, and the fox will not. This will leave it explosed to any number of unforseen issues. Who knows what type of new printer connection or engine may come out in the next few years. I do know that when the cheap USB printers arrived, my old fpw2.6 apps refused to print to some of them. Gave me a good reason to force any lingering upgraders, the next time arround however, I won't have that same option.
>
>Will I move on to .net or something else? Who knows, I'm getting a little long in the tooth and don't learn new things as easily. It may be time to move to the islands and take some time off.
>
>Do I think .net is the way to go? Don't know. I think things have become far to complicated and .net only makes things worse. I think it is silly just how complicated things have become. Sure, we have more choices, but the learning curve is so high that for a one man shop, it is almost insurmountable.
>
>Do I have any choice about what happens to the fox? No. Microsoft appears to have spoken.
>
>Am I sad that things are changing? Yes. I really miss the good old days.
>
>With the exception of one or two things I find very annoying that Microsoft (in their infinate wisdom) choose not to fix, the fox is very a mature and stable tool. It does what I need and if we look at the bright side, I won't have to spend money on new VFP upgrades, or books, or utilities, or training, or seminars, or a whole new set of coffee mugs. :-)
>
>I never said the "D" word. You did.
>
>Jim
>
>
>
>>>As the players take their final bows, the robust lady sings the final song.
>>>And while there will be one final as yet undetermined encore (Sedna), all that will remain will be to clean the isles and put away the props (sp2) and then the lights will go out.
>>>
>>>Not to put anything on Ken's sholders as he's done wonderfull things for the fox and I wish him well, but it is a sad day. Without Ken, it seems unlikly there will be an eleventh hour call from the governor. The all mighty Bill Gates has spoken and condemed my favorite tool to be a footnote in the history books.
>>>
>>>I've always wondered how the end would play out and now it seems pretty clear. Like the song says, it's been a long strange trip. I've done apps in every version from Foxbase to VFP9 and so long as the matching set of Fox logo coffee mugs that I received with my upgrade to FP2.5 last, the fox will have a place on my desk.
>>>
>>>Things change and life goes on.
>>>
>>>Jim
>>
>>FoxPro is dead! Where have I heard that before?