Hi Jim,

Thanks for the message. Maybe I wrote my message in err. What I attempted to say was, the word is to build your middle tier COM components in whatever language you're comfortable with. That could be VFP or VB or VWXYZ. This came from Andrew Coupe of Microsoft's consulting division. He wasn't saying to abandon VFP or anything of the sort. Neither am I. I was just restating Microsoft in saying that VFP should be used in the middle tier.

That stuff about the rumours etc: Yes, I've heard rumours too before for many years. In fact, we were also told by Andrew Coupe that Microsoft's sole reason for purchasing FoxPro from Fox Software was to "compete" severely with Borland's dBase, and there were no plans to make FoxPro a flagship product. (the word "compete" should be taken in the same context as how IE "competes" with Netscape). Maybe he'll deny this now. But I remember hearing it from the horse's mouth and not believing the blatant wording. My interpretation was that FoxPro was purchased to put Borland out of business, and once mission was accomplished, FoxPro support would drop as MSFT pushed developers into Visual Basic.

Again, my whole point about bringing up this rumour issue, was to draw attention to the issue of the rumour's existence. Why aren't there similar rumours for VB? Why are there these rumours at all?

The issues about VFP's team touting VFP and the upcoming VFP exams, is good for us VFP developers. I'm not shunning VFP, but neither am I ignoring other technologies. That's the basis for my decision to expand into other languages: To learn new technologies and remain marketable as MSFT makes changes to their product line and businesses adjust accordingly.