>>>What do you see as the disadvantages to using MSDE?
>>
>>The only real advantage I can see to MSDE over VFP tables is if you will go to SQL Server in the near future. But, even that is not a given. MSDE is optimized for five users. What if you need 10, 15, 20, or 100? Is the cost justification there for getting into SQL Server?
>
>I had looked at MSDE about a month ago. The info on the MS site positioned it as a lightweight demo version of SQL Server. If you develop an app that requires SQL to run and want to build a small limited use demo (to download from a web page say) you could include MSDE in SQL's place. Once the demo app was installed it's supposed to be pretty painless to replace it with SQL.
>
>I was of the opinion that it was never meant to be a real back-end in a working app. Although some people in my user group had mentioned that they were planning on using it in place of SQL to get a free secure backend.


Hi Roi,

Yes, it is a lightweight version of SQL 7.0, and the switchover is totally painless. I'm not sure it's MS's intent to discourage the use of MSDE in development, they seem to be pushing it pretty heavily in the Office2000 environment. I think if you carefully choose where you use it, it can be a powerful addition to the toolkit. As I mentioned to Craig on this thread, you can't beat the stored procedures and database security.