>>But then FoxPro 1.0 came it, and that changed everything.
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>I was thoroughly un-impressed with FoxPro 1.0. I was more impressed with 2.x. And FoxPro for Windows 2.6 was amazing, but these also evolved on my getting-faster-over-time computers.
Certainly, FoxPro 2 had SQL and Rushmore and that was big. But FoxPro 1.0 (and the events right after that) wound up crushing the competition.
Keep in mind something: right before 1989, there were arguments for Fox, arguments for Quicksilver, arguments for Clipper, and arguments (bad arguments) for dBase IV. dBase IV was just bloody awful in terms of performance, but it did have some nice functionality (if you had a very zippy machine). I can still quote from memory some of the arguments made in comparison articles in Data Based Advisor magazine and even PC Tech Journal about which one to use.
But in less than a year, two pretty significant things happened. First, Fox 1.0 came out, with a much better interface, support for pop-up windows, and they also implemented (more effectively) some of the dBase IV features. I was in Toledo and watched Dr. Dave demo dBase IV on one machine and FoxPro 1.0 on another machine. Dr. Dave crushed dBase IV that day.
Second, Nantucket released a giant pile of crap with Clipper 5.0 in the summer of 1990. It was over a year late, and the virtual memory manager (the one they boasted about) just crashed right and left.
So...you had Ashton Tate delivering a terrible dBase IV, Fox delivering a lean and mean Fox 1 with windowing capabilities, and Nantucket delivering a pile of manure. (Meanwhile, QuickSilver stayed dormant and more or less faded into obscurity). At the time I had debates with clients and I.T. departments on whether Fox was better than Clipper or dBase IV. FoxPro 1.0 and the events that followed gave Fox people some huge ammo.
When I look back at a product, I look at the history and the environment as well. I still say that FoxPro 1.0 is one of the great "David slays Goliath" moments in the software world. They slayed multiple Goliaths.
I admit I have personal bias for Fox 1.0. For 2 years after that, I grossed some big money and won an award from USDA for a system I did for them with Fox.
