Michael

I think MS has told "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth" as much as anybody does these days.

Since 1995 it has been made clear that MS has a strategic direction and that VFP is dangling somewhere off to the side. All that time we've had FUDmeisters saying the world was about to end. That they were wrong is evident and IMHO those saying that VFP is about to implode today, need to Get A Grip. Nothing lasts forever, when you lease a new car your contract includes provisions for the replacement you'll take in 3 years, so does that mean the one you take today is "doomed"? Of course not, you make full use of it according to your plan. Planning does not doom anything.

I have agreed with you in the past that we might be able to alter MS's behaviour to our advantage. I honestly believe we shamed MS in 1995 into providing greater visibility for the product. But it was a brief burst largely confined to a chosen audience- us. Since then we have achieved little.

IMHO our biggest problem is a serious "leadership" failure. Many leaders have been willing to "celebrate" the smallest thing rather than pressing MS hard. Others have become FUDMeisters spreading alarm and chaos. Others have migrated and become leaders in other communities.

In this forum there are some great MVPs volunteering to help others. They deserve our full support. But when I see a VFP MVP writing articles about "leadership" when that person was one of a handful who voted "no" re your letter to MS while >99% of respondents voted "yes", I see a "leader" who has lost touch with the constituency and is displaying "let them eat cake" behaviour.

In summary: we can't blame MS for acting in accord with what it told us 7 years ago. We have weak leadership. Yes, I expect to be flamed

FWIW, while I am in the USA my staff in Australasia and UK have been communicating with MS. Suffice to say that the negativity toward VFP is so entrenched at MS commercial level that telling Ken Levy is a waste of time IMHO, the horse has bolted and there is little point closing the stable door.

Not finding MS books is the least of the problems.

Regards

JR