>does that mean that Visual Studio should not cost them as much as it costs me?

No. But that wasn't really my point. Say MS had the Educational Version of VFP, selling for half the price as teh regular. Then all of a sudden removed the ability build a COM DLL in the next educational version. The solution, pay for the professional version which has even upped in price. Its not kosher, if you ask me.

Its a hook for them to get more money, taking away what you've already had.