>>>>2. Make training available. Quit restricting VFP training to MS owned Unervisities in the orient. Make CBT training available in the US.
>>>
>>>They've tried that. Remember "Mastering Visual FoxPro"? It didn't sell.
>>
>>That could be because it sucked. It was an exact rehash of the docs that shipped with VFP 5.0. If something sucks, it doesn't take long for word to get out.
>
>Hi Erik, this isn't directed toward you, it's directed to everyone in this thread.
>
>Microsoft isn't interested in advertising Foxpro. Microsoft wants everyone needing development tools and databases to buy SQL Server and Visual Studio.
>
>If people are not aware of Foxpro's power, then they will buy what Microsoft recommends, which is Visual Studio and SQL Server, namely Visual Basic and SQL Server. It seems that Microsoft views Foxpro as a product that satisfies a niche market. Microsoft probably will never put alot of marketing behind Foxpro as long as SQL Server is in the forefront. Just think of all the companies who have bought SQL Server who really don't need it. If Microsoft advertises the strengths of Foxpro, then they will start loosing sQL Server and Visual Basic sales. It's not going to happen.

If you think about it, MicroSoft is not really pushing VS or SQL! The push comes from inside IT departments. There always seems to be one guy there that wrote an Access form to keep a list of IP addresses or router locations. So that guy says "get visual basic, and BTW, have you seen my IP address program?":-)

Universities teach a lot of VB. Lots of VB programmers in the market. But the big, mission critical (legacy and newer) systems are in VFP. At least I'm doing my best to assure that.

I could sell VFP licensing at the same dollar as SQL if microsoft demanded it. I wish they would make VFP native (the borland 5 and 7 xbase were native). I bet if VFP cost more than SQL, IT departments would buy it.:-)

Also, by taking VFP out of VS - I realize that the last VS we had a client buy will be the last one we sell. MS was making a lot of money off VS with VFP. I don't know why they pulled it. Maybe its that native stuff?