>Hi Matt
>
>I have had some brief encounters with FileMaker Pro. My understanding is that the data engine is not really up in the same category as VFP; it might be somewhat comparable to MS Access. It wasn't all that long ago that FileMaker was a flat filed system (think Excel). It was changed to be relation database engine. I don't know whether fundamental changes were really made in the data engine to make it relational or how much of the change was marketing hype.
>
>Also I beleive that there is an annual licensing fee for each workstation and server. I don't have any information about the "language", I remember someone told me that it was mostly macros.
>
>You might want to stay with VFP, especially if it becomes open sourced. If you need better database features but don't want to get into SQL Server, consider VistaDB (www.VisaDB.com).
>

VFP is *not* going to become open source, even though parts of the Sedna extensions are open source. Microsoft has been clear and consistent on this point.