Peter,
>I have POLITELY asked Alan Griver to mention the reasons. Reasons we need for several reasons. First, we have customers who want to know why. At the moment I do NOT have a single good argument. (Don't expect me to say to that customer: "MS no longer sees it as a strategic product". The resulting debate might become troublesome.)
I suggest that you tell customers who care about it that Microsoft has added so many new features to VFP over the past few years that there was little else for them to add to the product. Also, .NET is where Microsoft is putting the overwhelming amount of their development work now, but that VFP is officially supported by Microsoft until 2015 and that many of your peers are planning to continue programming in VFP for years to come. And that if they decide in the future to move away from VFP for some reason, that you will assist them in any way you can to help them make the transition to another platform -- if they really think that is necessary. But that you don't see any reason to make a sudden decision at this point in time, considering the strong VFP community support, the ongoing development by the VFP community and the official support for almost 8 more years.
>Second, I need to know before I can make a grounded strategic decision for my own company.
Sorry, but I really don't think you need any further reasons from YAG or anyone at Microsoft before you can make a grounded strategic decision. How would any further reasons from them affect your decision in any way?
If they say "it was simply a business decision" how does that affect your decision? If they say "we have made all the announcements about this that we are going to make" how will that affect your decision? If they say "we didn't make enough money on VFP" how will that affect your decision? If they say "we're putting all our eggs into the .NET basket" how will that affect your decision? If they say nothing more, how will that affect your decision?
It seems to me that perhaps you want more statements from Microsoft so that you can continue to argue, but I certainly could be wrong about that (bracing myself now for your accusation that I am attacking you).
You have hinted in the past that their lack of response to your demand for further explanations may affect whether you stick with Microsoft technologies. If that is the case, you might as well decide now to move to another platform or to stick with VFP, because I don't expect that you will hear anything more. Or better, maybe you should take the facts you now have and think about them for a year or two before making a decision. Either way, don't expect any more official statements from Microsoft (I don't have any inside information that indicates that they will not make another statement, but I certainly don't expect it and would be very surprised if it happened).
Just as a reminder, here is the "official statement" from Microsoft:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vfoxpro/bb308952.aspxAnything else that YAG or others posted was an attempt to add a personal touch and connection to the community in light of a corporate decision that was a long time coming, but was expected by many nonetheless.
The roadmap was a wakeup call to many of us -- the statement that the roadmap contained all their current plans for VFP, the unusual Sedna release of add-ons instead of a full version release, the talk from MS about "what else could be added to VFP?", the hints that VFP team members were working on key technologies for .NET data-handling, the retirement of Randy Brown, and many more signs have indicated that we were likely moving into a final stage of development.
Back when I was editor of FoxTalk 2.0, I stated in writing that I did not expect to see anything named VFP10 -- based on reading between the lines of the roadmap and public statements by Microsoft, including the interview I did with Ken and YAG.
I believe Microsoft tried very hard to provide a "soft landing" instead of a hard crash when they announced the roadmap, giving us all a long lead time to process the information without completely upsetting the VFP market way back then. To me, this showed lots of class from the VFP people, who at "roadmap announcement time" tried to be sensitive to us and to our businesses as they laid the foundation for the most recent announcement. You seem to think the opposite about that approach -- that they were unfair to us by not announcing NO VFP10 back then. I just can't see anything wrong with the way they tried to help us by keeping it vague in their statements to the press back then.
You may consider me presumptious to tell you what you should do, Peter, but frankly it's no more presumptious than your demands from YAG at the moment. I have no desire to debate you about this, but I really do think you already have all the information you need to make your decisions:
1) Several fabulous versions released since the "VFP is Dead" rumors years ago.
2) No VFP10.
3) Sedna and SP2 this summer.
4) Strong community support in many forums and continuing enhancements on CodePlex.
5) Extended support through 2015.
6) Public announcement from Microsoft about the above.
7) No more public announcements likely from Microsoft (that should be obvious by now).
If you decide to stay with VFP development, you can be assured that there will be a strong community here and in other support forums, as well as at upcoming conferences, to support you with any technical problems you may encounter.
If you decide to move toward .NET, you'll also have many fellow travelers up the learning curve and will find many good support resources both here and on multiple online sites.
If you decide to go with a non-Microsoft platform, good luck and bon voyage. I'm sure you'll also find communities there who can provide support for those products.
