James,
When I made the transition from FoxPro DOS to VFP this distinction went right over my head. Much of the code that worked in FoxPro worked 'sometimes' in VFP and I guess this is one of the reasons. I would have preferred that Microsoft has come up with a completely new syntax rather than just changing the behavior of an existing one- but then again I did not read and understand the documentation.
A problem is a problem only as long as it has a possible solution. Lacking that, it becomes a FACT!