>>>Hi all:
>>>this is from a brand new article on the home page of MSDN:
>>>
>>>"Summary: Until recently, Microsoft offered two means of database management: Microsoft Jet (the Microsoft Access database engine that is shipped with both Microsoft Access and Microsoft Visual Studio) and Microsoft SQL Server. With the release of the Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE), a SQL Server-compatible database engine, there is an exciting new option for creating desktop and shared database solutions. MSDE enables developers to build desktop and shared database solutions that easily migrate to SQL Server when the solution must scale. This article discusses the features and benefits of MSDE 2000 and provides links to useful information, including online documentation, Microsoft Knowledge Base articles, and Microsoft white papers, to enable you to build robust MSDE 2000 solutions."
>>>
>>>Here is the link: This link appears on msdn.microsoft.com:
>>>
>>>http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnmsde/html/msderoadmap.asp
>>>
>>>Only 2 means? Exciting new option? Hasn't VFP been exciting new option for 10 years? Jeez...
>>>
>>>Harold
>>
>>Somebody needs an education from youknowwho :)
>>
>>I submitted the rating for this article 1(poor) and sent e-mail to MSDN Online.
>>If you do the same, it may get some attention...
>
>I've followed your lead. I hope others do too.

Here is my letter:

"Hello,

I just read the article "Choosing and Using MSDE 2000 as the Database Engine for Your Application" and it was a big surprise for me to read in the summary that (summary excerpt follows):

"Until recently, Microsoft offered two means of database management: Microsoft Jet (the Microsoft Access database engine that is shipped with both Microsoft Access and Microsoft Visual Studio) and Microsoft SQL Server. With the release of the Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE), a SQL Server-compatible database engine, there is an exciting new option for creating desktop and shared database solutions. MSDE enables developers to build desktop and shared database solutions that easily migrate to SQL Server when the solution must scale. This article discusses the features and benefits of MSDE 2000 and provides links to useful information, including online documentation, Microsoft Knowledge Base articles, and Microsoft white papers, to enable you to build robust MSDE 2000 solutions."

My question is:

Have author or editors ever heard of Microsoft Visual Foxpro, when they talk about "Until recently, Microsoft offered two means of database management: Microsoft Jet (the Microsoft Access database engine that is shipped with both Microsoft Access and Microsoft Visual Studio) and Microsoft SQL Server"???

Surprisingly enough, the 10th anniversary of Microsoft Visual FoxPro was just celebrated this summer and VFP 8.0 is about to release early next year.

Do they know anything about technical capabilities of VFP, when they talk about Access Jet engine, which with its limited capabilities does not even come close to the power of VFP database engine?

Have they ever heard that MSDE is also supplied on CD with VFP 7.0 ?

If not, they should not be writing/editing the articles about the databases as their knowledge of the subject appears very limited.

If yes, I would consider that as attempt to diminish Microsoft Visual FoxPro product which was (slightly rephrasing the article) "an exciting option for creating desktop and shared database solutions" for hundreds of thousands of developers for many years.

Nick Neklioudov
Microsoft MVP - VisualFoxPro