>To Michel and the rest of the management here....
>
>First off, I am not going to engage anybody in a debate on this.

Well that didn't work as planned, huh? :-)

Just to throw in my 2 cents, I have no problem with the rate increase and will continue to pay no matter any UT or MS status.

Taking away the free basic membership would do both the UT and the VFP community a huge disservice by cutting active participation at this site down to a fraction of its current level. I would have never found the UT if I had to pay to see it, because I never would have paid, even with the promise of a refund if I am dissatisfied. I was active here for nearly a year before I coughed up the dough, and I know that many others did the same.

And Walter has a very good point- it is difficult for westerners to comprehend the value of even $50 in some Eastern European, Latin, or Asian countries. It is 25 minutes pay for you- a week's pay for some. There are lots of valuable presences here that would not be here if they had to pay from the very beginning.

I agree with your points about the performance though. The performance gains should be evident before any announcement of increase in cost. But is $125 really that much? It's still a no brainer for me. The amount of time that the UT has saved me makes it an easy decision. I vaguely remember someone here saying recently that someone one consider the real value in terms of time and/ or development saved when deciding how to price a product. Well $125 is the bargain of a lifetime.