thank you for your extensive explanation
at 70 years of age and only 265 days to be in the workforce this might be a bit much

if i spend this high a learning curve I might as well jump on the 'Dot.Net' wagon, at least it's express version is free


Peter






>>I just downloaded the express version. It's a huge download.
>>It took 16 tries to finally haf it finish all the way
>>
>>anyway, the app looks very confusing. and I cant' find any video tutorials.
>>how did you get started?
>
>Its confusing probably because it is 10 times bigger than VFP ... :)
>
>I looked at the online help and the feature brochures to get an idea of what it could do. When I started there was no free trial download. After a while of looking I purchased a copy. It comes with manuals and tutorials which are strongly recommended to go through and which give you the knowledge to work the IDE and primary concepts of building WinDev applications.
>
>In the beginning I was also confused but looking back I can see that this was only because it was a different IDE from VFP and I had gotten used to a VFP mind-set. After doing the tutorials and playing around building a "Hello World" app things rapidly starting falling into place. So what I am describing really is the leaning curve / exploration curve that one will be confronted with no matter what platform one decides one, whether .Net or Python or whatever. i think you will master all the necessary basics to build and compile and distribute an application within 3 months of working an hour or two a day with it.
>
>I think the online help will give you the best insight into the extensiveness of this platform, the massive array of tools provided to help you build apps.
>
>
>>
>>how long is the trial period?
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>I have no idea - never used it. Email their support.
>
>>
>>is there a forum like the UT for windev?
>
>There is no forum like the UT in terms of operation and I am trying my best to offer whatever help I can here. However, there is another and quite active forum at http://27130.foren.mysnip.de run by a very good German WinDev developer - It looks a bit old style although there are some visual settings you can choose to make it look a bit better. There you will have access to the WinDev gurus, people like Guenter (Germany), Fabrice Harari (France), Peter Halsted (UK), Glen Rathke (USA), and many more. These guys have the same in-depth knowledge that the VFP gurus have here.
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>PC Soft have their own forum at http://forum.pcsoft.fr/fr-FR/pcsoft.us.windev/page/1.awp - However, I would say it is less active than the one mentioned above.
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>In addition, Glen Rathke (USA) offers training courses and video training. Fabrice Harari has recorded numerous talks he has given and offers them for sale on his website too.
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>Peter Halsted is very amenable to offering advice and insight and consulting service - http://www.thenextage.com/wordpress/author/pete/
>Peter will have far deeper knowledge about WinDev, its pros and cons, than me and I am sure an email to him will be useful.
>
>Then there are annual conferences in the US, Europe, South Africa, Australia, and other places. You can find out more about these on the PC Soft website. For example, there is a 5 day WinDev conference going on right now in the Cape, South Africa.
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>In respect of the free trial - does it come with the tutorials? Look under help. If it does then take the time to go through them. This is the best starting point.