>Here's a copy
>
>ACCESS OR VISUAL FOXPRO?
>Since your backend is a SQL Server / MSDE database, both Access and Visual FoxPro can be used as frontends. We would recommend Access 2000 over FoxPro for three basic reasons.
>ADP - Access 2000 is now fully integrated with SQL Server through a new feature called Access Data Projects (ADP). Previously you had to use linked tables, SQL pass-through queries, or ODBC directly to communicate with the SQL Server backend. With ADP developers have direct access to SQL Server tables from within the Access environment. Access 2000 can also directly work with Microsoft's new database engine MSDE 1.0 (which is actually SQL Sever core without the user interface) through ADP. However in our opinion, the Jet Engine (MDB files) is still efficient for localized processing of smaller subsets of large data. The only disadvantage of using Access ADP is that your backend will have to be SQL Server or MSDE. You cannot use it for Oracle or Sybase backends.

While this is a great new feature, we use it here quit a bit for quick and dirty access to SQLServer, when the datasets and number of users starts to grow, ADP or not, Access' performance starts to bottom out. Not the case in VFP.

>FAMILIARITY - Since your developers are familiar with Access 2000, you can minimize training and hiring costs by continuing to work with Access. Although some of our work has been in FoxPro, we are more knowledgable about using Access to develop frontends to SQL Server.

In general, true but if the app is going to be medium to large sized, in the long run they'll reap the benefits of the training and learning curve.

>COST - Access development is also more economic. Since it more widely used than Visual FoxPro, tools, resources, and help is more easily available for Access. The cost can be dramatically lower if you are building a system where Access is going to work with its native database.

For small apps, yes Access can be more economic, but for medium to larger apps you'll reap the RAD benifits of OOP in VFP. As for resources and help, you don't have to look any farther than UT. In a 10 hour period from my last login there were 150+ posts and that's low.

>However, there are few advantages of using FoxPro which do not directly impact why Access should be used over FoxPro in working with SQL Sever/MSDE. Unlike Access, FoxPro is a true Client/Server system. FoxPro can be used to create both the frontend and the backend in a high performance Client/Server solution. Visual FoxPro also comes with its own object oriented programming language which is specially useful when a large number of programmers are cooperating on the same project. FoxPro also offers Active Documents which can be hosted by Active Document Containers like the Internet Explorer.

Like others have noted, VFP is not true C/S, AD's are dead and this sounds like bad paraphrasing of the VFP marketing. HTH