>Tom,
>
>There are a couple of inaccuracies in your post that should be corrected.
>
>First, Bill Gates and Paul Allen did not found the company in New Mexico.

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I have read many stories that they did. Here is one reference. There is a book out there on this subject that descrived the daily life in New Mexico as Microsoft was supplying MITS with product.

http://exo.com/~wts/mits0021.HTM
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The company, MITS (as I recall it stood for Micro Intrumentation Telemetry Systems) was already in existence. It was founded by a fellow named Ed Roberts, who now lives in Georgia. The company initially produced radio controllers for flying model airplanes. They invented the Altair.

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Yes - and that became the S-100. My confusion was that Altair was in New Mexico - I read an article that said Hayward, CA, where we lived at one time. IMSAI (the S-100 I owned) was in San Leandro, near Hayward. They will have to make some corrections at the San Jose Technical Museum as to the history of all this. :)

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>
>One of the reasons that I'm familiar with the story is that a friend of mine from Chicago, Mark Chamberlin, was at MITS, when Gates and Allen were hired to write a BASIC interpreter for the Altair.
>
>Second, the reasons for the popularity of BASIC has nothing to do with the above. At the time, the various flavors of BASIC were probably the most universal language available on a PC. I recall reading an article in the late 1980s where Bill Gates talked about his strategy for the macro language for the various Microsoft products. He said that because BASIC was commonly understood, that it would be the foundation for these languages.

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How about this for a reason as to why Basic was so popular - it was in the public domain! Hard to beat that! The price is right. Interesting thought- Public Donain programming languages and business - Microsoft and Ashton-Tate (dBase)! And the winner is... :)
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>
>Is Microsoft "protective" of its version of BASIC? Perhaps, but only in the context of its market share. IOW, if it ain't profitable, then they don't bother. We've seen this a number of times with the company's stance towards various products.
>
>There's a story (whether or not true, I don't know) that Microsoft in the late 1980s was concerned about Borland and its TurboBASIC, taking over the market for the compiled BASIC programming environment. Microsoft, as the story goes, put two teams in charge of the next release of its BASIC compiler. The one that finished first, would be QuickBASIC 3.0.

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QuickBasic was a good tool for PDL controllers. I used it when I did hardware/software design and made a lot of money doing so.
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>
>As I said, I don't know if the story is true or not, but six months after the release of QB 3.0, came QB 4.0. In and of itself, that short a time frame between the release of major versions, adds credence to the truth of the story. A question, however, remains: Was this done because it was BASIC, or was it done because of market share?
>
>I don't know and don't pretend to know. Given its history, however, I would assume it to be market share. The one thing, however, that annoys me greatly about the Fox community, is its "pity pot" mentality. Microsoft (Bill Gates) loves BASIC and won't give us...(fill in the blanks). This is pure tripe, and deserves to be treated as such.


>
>I've said this before, and I don't mind saying it again, the future of VFP is in our hands. As long as we continue to use the product to produce the results that our customers are looking for, it will survive, because it will be profitable for Microsoft to continue to invest time and resources to improve it. Sitting on the "pit pot" and moaning about how much we're "unloved" won't.
>
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Personally I think the issue of VFP being around for any period of time is a complex issue and boils down to a business decision by Microsoft. I know the reluctance (mild understatement) of IT professionals to use Visual FoxPro in a number of companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. These are companies of all sizes. I can only speak of that negative attitude I have found during my consulting and full time work for other companies.

VFP may go the way of the S-100 and I fully expect it will. I loved my S-100 and it could blow the socks off of an IBM AT. However the IBM PC (clones) changed all that. Without PC clones this industry might look very much like Apple did in 1985.

I also love dBase II where this journey began for me with data base application programming, VFP and the previous versions of Fox products. Trying to educate those who have no time for reality is a fruitless task. If you would like I will send you names in private as to whom you might attempt to convert. These are decision-makers for large corporations.
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>The future of VFP doesn't depend on whether or not it partipates in the CLR. From my POV, it would be a gross mistake to make VFP a CLR compliant language. The mindset of some people is that "everyting belongs on the Internet/Intranet". In truth this sort of thinking returns us to the days of "Big Iron". The fundamental reason that PCs rose to such popularity is the fact that they put power into the hands of the users. Every application does not necessarily belong on the corportate Internet/Intranet. The sad thing is that most people (fron my perspective) don't realize this and will fail to take advantage of it.
>

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George, I agree with this statement 100% and can back it up with facts and reality. Trying to squeeze everything through a "Browser" (experience) is disgusting, and another indication of what is being shoved down our throats. As users we are told how wonderful Browsers are and everything should be run through a Browser. Then as developers we either have to “provide the goods” expected of the public who has been brain washed or loose clients. Some developers have decided that the web is the only way to go. I find a little balance in your life is necessary for stability and well being. Just like the expression “use the right tool for a job”, we should also be allowed to create a desktop or web application as is required for business needs. Please excuse my rant. :)

Thank you for the input - it was fun and informative and a great way for me to start the day!

By the way I have been invited to Los Angeles to play guitar for a flamenco company for an event this Friday - I will have to take a day off - oh how I hate that! They preformed at the Democratic National Convention, and many other places. I guess they like me because I am a Democrat? :) Katy and I are talking about retirement in Spain.


Ciao mi amigo.


Tom

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>Sorry for the rant.
>
>You friend,