>>It does seem to keep going in spite of problems with current operating systems.

I've not encountered any such problems for a distributed app that doesn't try to write to program files or other stuff we've been told not to do since Win95. IME it's the opposite: I've yet to find a customer PC where the VFP app can't be xcopied down and run without needing elevated privileges or installsets or additional runtimes or whatever.

>>OTOH newer environments allow faster product development, native deployment to web/phones/etc, much larger databases, much faster speeds, much better security, much better reliability, use of current hardware and OS capabilities, etc.

We've seen the market stall on XP and then partially move to Win7 where it will stall again. IOW going forward from 2012, Windows apps need to be able to run in current environments, forever- or at least until the phones take over.

re phone- you're talking iOS and Android. Everything else is dead.

>>It's up the the client and the developer to pick (I haven't found a situation in years where I'd revert to new VFP development).

That's different: if you're a developer then of course the customer is always right. FWIW, some doctors also behave that way when patients insist on particular treatments. Doesn't necessarily mean it's the best option.

>>Personally I don't regret learning any of the .NET platforms I've worked with. Some were a PITA to get used to. Some had serious learning curves. So far, I can develop for Windows, Web, Silverlight, WP7, Compact Framework, Windows services, web services, and probably more but I can't think of them at the minute using .NET. I can pick the platform(s) for the requirement, and I have a world class IDE for development for all.

Yep. In 2012, that stuff is useful for Windows. By 2016? VFP will be out of support by then, but you cannot say for sure that MS won't come up with some marvelous new technology in 2014 that will render your work obsolete. Some would predict this as a near certainty.

What seems sure to me is that people who were able to earn their crust sticking with VFP, are the winners. They've leveraged skills and codes for decades. They're going to have to move at some point (unless somebody comes up with FP2.6 for Android) but in the meantime they've saved a fortune not playing "Simon Says" with technology vendors whose version of the game may see you SOL even if you obeyed perfectly. ;-)