>I agree with you here. I think in the case of VFP however, my feeling is that it (VFP) will not qualify a developer for future certifications. Even if there is a VFP 7 cert - it is so different than .Net. I recall the uproar that occurred when MS omitted VFP 6 from the MCSD certification track. That was an unjustified move on MS's part given that VFP was consistient with the rest of VS. With .Net however, I think MS will be justifed in omitting VFP from the .Net certification track. Therefore, if one wants to remain certified, you will likely have to pick another language. For the VB community, it is about going onto the next version. For the VFP community, it is about finding a new language.

Yes, I think that MS omitting VFP from the .Net certification can (will?) happen. But to say NOW that "to remain certified you will likely have to pick up another language" *may* be premature. I guess we need to know if MS is going to separate into a .Net certification along with the MCSD -- THEN we know if we MUST learn another language to stay certified.

>With all the discussions that have occurred with respect to VFP, where it is going, how it fits with .Net, I see this as an obvious issue that is not being discussed. For sure, when the new tracks get announced and VFP is not there, you know what will happen. All fo the bitching, moaning, and crying about why VFP is not on the list.
>
>I advocate folks that may be impacted by this to address the issue NOW not later.

OK, we can discuss it here until we're blue in the face, get our blood pressure to boiling, and wring our hands about how we're not going to be included AGAIN. What *practical* advice, in addition to going out and learning VB7 or C#, do you have for finding out what the future holds and/or alerting MS to the fact that we still need a track for VFP certs until it's nicely integrated with .Net?

Admittedly, I'm not as up-to-date on .Net as I'd like to be, so this may be a totally ignorant question (and I *DO* intend to come up to speed on .Net in a big way after a major deadline of Jan 22): Is there any possibility of using VB to write applications that DON'T use the .Net framework? IOW, should MS consider an MCSD.Net track AND continue the current MCSD? Marketing-wise, I don't see why they would, that's kinda like being certified as "Current" (.Net), and "Old Tech" (the current system). But it will take a number of years to update every application to .Net, and does every application need it? If I need to hire somebody to convert a "legacy" app (say, finished in VS 6.0) to a .Net framework when VS 8.0 starts to ship, wouldn't it be good to have a dually certified MCSD and an MCSD.Net person who understands both the old and the new? (And MS keeps two cash cows, I mean, certification programs going).

That said, it does NOT mean that we shouldn't be adding tools to our toolbox -- learning VB or C# isn't a bad idea REGARDLESS of the direction .Net takes us.

>PS - I enjoyed your book!! Nice work!!
Thank you so much! You're compliment has made my day!

- della