>What part of this do you consider a debacle?

None yet. I think it could blow up into one.

>
>>>It's all about money. Microsoft, like any public corporation is in the business of making money for its shareholders. If a product is not strategic, has decreasing market share, and generated income is less than production costs, then the product is not going to deliver shareholder benefits, so it will not be continued.
>>
>>That's all conjecture after the first sentence.
>>Companies do keep products alive even if they are not "strategic".
>>Companies have to invest some in marketing to keep/increase market share. Maybe theydid shareholders a huge disservice by allowing the market share to dwindle.
>>Even on direct generated income there's a chance that VFP made *some* money. The team was so small for so long that costs were small. And the indirect sales of other products were very good for sure. Neither the Windows marketing efforts nor the Office marketing efforts had a whit to do with a whole lot of Windows and Office install. But the VFP application that needed them sure did.
>>
>>Strategic?... keeping Linux and other pretenders out of shops is an important strategy for Microsoft.
>>
>>Shareholder benefits?... I wonder what shareholders will think when they see how Microsoft handled this debacle. It could blossom into something Microsoft really doesn't need.
>>
>>It's a BAD "business decision" no matter how you try to slice it.
>>And, please, do consider letting Microsoft provide the reasoning themselves. You could be way off base or you could be dead on. Only Microsoft knows. So let them tell us.
>>
>>
>>>
>>>>I don't think money is the only issue. Most businesses of any size want their data in a real database like SQL Server or Oracle. VFP has many of the same features but I don't think you would find many who consider it as robust or secure. A company's data is among its most important assets. You don't mind spending some money to protect it.
>>>>
>>>>SQL Server databases are also much more scalable that DBFs. When large tables are involved that makes the decision right there.