John,

Labeling an idea with a loaded term isn't very constructive. I'm sorry if I've offended you with my vehemence, because I believe that you and the rest of the MS VFP team are earnest in your support of the product. No doubt you had your personal reasons for opposing the Open Letter, and I have never faulted you for this.

Maybe it's hard for you to see the situation from my perspective, which seems to be shared the majority of the VFP community. We're dropping like flies out here, John. Every week, Microsoft is losing loyal customers forced to chose between the language they love and their immediate survival. Does this make sense?

It's disturbing that you continue to oppose our effort, and yet have offered not a single rational argument for Microsoft's continuing to delay in giving FoxPro the marketing it's starving for. Even more disturbing, John, is your suggestion that we should now wait another year before passing judgement on Microsoft's credibility. I sincerely hope we can find "room to talk" with MS in a more substantive way long before that!

Mike

>As to the Open Letter, I'd more term it a jihad than a suggestion. I was opposed to it before I joined MS.
>
>Look, the product isn't even released yet. If you find the same beefs this time next year, then there's room to talk.
>
>
>>MS can't do everything, but there's one small thing they must do before it makes sense to follow the other great suggestions about what we should do. There's one very specific thing that is absolutely crucial, so let's not blur the issue. Of all the things that Microsoft could do for VFP marketing, the thing that would cost them the least, the thing that would achieve the most is simply to begin giving us a little of our fair share of PR in their most widely circulated PR newsletters. The failure to do this, without a doubt, is the direct cause of the bad rap VFP has gotten from Gartner, as well as the prevailing impression throughout the world that has manifested itself in the decimation of the FoxPro job market.
>>
>>Microsoft's failure to take even this easiest step is a glaring omission that totally undercuts our independent efforts to promote VFP. It would not be an exaggeration to say that we are less than 10% as effective as we would be with this tiny boost from MS. We are eager to provide the kind of followup marketing suggested by Nancy, Evan and others, but only if Microsoft supplies the essential catalyst that would make it worth the effort.
>>
>>I don't mean to belittle those other excellent marketing ideas, but I think it's high time we focused on the specific suggestion I made in the first place, for which I even proposed an exact wording in my Open Letter at http://www.ideaxchg.com/ix07/bymda/mdav0017.htm. This is the logical first step, and no one has offered a satisfactory excuse for further delay. VFP 7.0 may not be quite ready to ship, but FoxPro is certainly ready (and long overdue) for some authentic PR. To persist in ignoring my suggestion is infuriating, because the present contradiction makes no sense whatsoever, and this tiniest conceivable action from MS would bring immediate relief to a lot of people who deserve better treatment.
>>
>>Mike
>>
>>>Hey Alex,
>>>
>>>In this regard I have to take a page out of Mike Stewart's book and punt. I just test the product; I have nothing to do with marketing. I can say that these folks have just as much passion for the product as you and others do. If not more so.
>>>
>>>Evan had a great suggestion: More of you guys should find the time to write articles and educate newbies through user groups. MS can't do everything.
>>>
>>>>
>>>>I don't think anybody here really has a beef with the VFP Team which we know is doing a super job. The problem is with the higher-ups in charge of marketing, advertising, newsletter writing, and training their own salespeople. As the only real access to bend an ear or two at Msft, is through you guys, then that is what we try to do.
>>>>
>>>>To rehash a little, nobody is asking or hoping to ever get the kind of hoopla VB or .Net gets -far from that- but just a few simple things, amply suggested and discussed here, at the Fox Wiki and other places would go a long way.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>Do you honestly think that those of us on the Fox Team are actively looking for ways to kill the product? Or to kill it through inaction?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>