>>>..except that 32 bit is going away and sooner or later you won't be able to even run a 32 bit application anymore - just wait - a version or two more of windows and that compatibility mode will disappear.
>
>Meanwhile there's still millions of apps out there relying on 32-bit C++7. The reason MS can't move as quickly as it would like, is because customers will rebel if forced to upgrade to something that breaks the apps. The OS is the vehicle, not the journey.
>

I'd say the option to run any xxbit OS in a container or VM connected via fast TCP/IP gives you tge vehicle

>>> But ..... that is not an official VFP version - and as matter of fact if MS ever wanted to be jerks about it they could bust you for breaking user or license agreements just by using it.
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>Since you're so knowledgeable can you please reveal what exactly you've decided I've breached?
>
>>>and then there is the issue of VFP not being supported by Microsoft anymore. - an instant deal breaker for most big companies - especially if you're dealing with medical data.
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>I think my biggest client exceeds the whole of HI. Clients care about the database, especially if they're to maintain and secure it, but I can't remember them ever asking or caring about this sort of stuff- in a respectful commercial relationship and with development now typified by a tornado of Rube Goldberg options, that sort of nit picking seems obsolete these days IME. Even if they do ask, for a small fee we can commit to provide C++ exe and dll compiled to whatever C++ strikes their fancy, with C++ recognized as dependable bedrock compared to the rest of the development churn.
>

Only partially. The larger the client, the more the wish to standardize on implementations that confirm to own dev profiles, Java still up front for backend and allowed in desktop/android, C(++) declining and JS gaining (big gains frontend via Cordova/Electron/PWA/(Nativescript/React Native) as nearly native and some allowance backend now.
JS via Java+GWT probably easier to argue than vfp via Chen-compiler ;-))