Adul:

Delphi 4.0 can compile to a standalone .EXE if you don't need database access. It comes with the BDE (Borland Database Engine) that you need to install. BDE is a bunch of dll's and you do run into version problems with other apps that use the BDE. There are other database engines that will compile into the app. The following website lists many of the alternatives. Delphi is from Borland and uses pascal syntax. It is very OO and easily gives you access to the Windows API.

http://www.kylecordes.com/bag/index.html


If you know DOS Fox well, the learning curve might be steep.

HTH
Mike