Right Paul, and I saw similarly by IBM, though they didn't use the WEB back then to keep the accounting. They relied on 4-per-year DEVCON-type conferences as well as more direct means for those vitally interested.

This is not a new or radical idea. MS has been able to avoid such things so far, but if they seriously want to improve their closeness to their clients, this is one of many they could do.
So far it has been reported here that they have improved their DEVCON performance/content. Great, but if it stops there it really amounts to nothing substantial.

As is often the case though, people step up to defend MS rather than letting them (MS) speak for themselves. The issue here is better communication with their clients and NOT that MS is a "bad company".

Cheers,

Jim N

>>First, your statement about MS presenting a list of possible future enhancements. No developer in their right mind would ever publish such a list. For several reasons, not to mention the outroar if the feature doesn't make it for some reason, competitive advantage, among others.
>
>Not true. My former employer (a to-be-unnamed high-end graphics workstation/CAD/CAM/CAE/GIS manufacuturer) had a formal procedure for registered users to request additions, deletions and changes to it's products. The company would post the requests on it's web site quarterly (as well as distribute hardcopies) with clear explanations as to why or why not the request would be accepted. There were no restrictions about the type of request (i.e. GUI enhancement requests were accepted). Point releases were issued either quarterly or biannually.
>For the record, I have no complaints about the development of VFP. Of course, I still consider myself a novice after three years using it.