>In the very long thread started last night about various topics in regards to user groups and related activities, it came in the subject that it would be interesting to know who would be in favor of having the VFP 8 naming to be geared toward .NET. As the product integrates extremely well with .NET, several members came to the conclusion that it could well be represented in the name. This would not entail any functional changes to the product, but purely a change in the way that VFP is presented and marketed. Instead of being an adversary of .NET, VFP would become a part of it, thereby changing both people's perception of VFP and the VFP community's perception about .NET. You are invited to cast your vote. This will be greatly appreciated.

I vote YES.
Microsoft already markets products with the .NET extension that are not related to "CLR". I believe that Windows Server .NET and ASP.NET qualify as such, and OFFICE.NET is under development.
In a world where marketing has such a huge impact on acquisition decisions and a name is integral to successful marketing, I believe that this would be a positive thing for Visual FoxPro. That VFP does accommodate exploitation of .NET features legitimizes the change of name. Marketers are known to use far less tenuous connections to link products and the connections between VFP and the .NET framework are strong.

The massive overt and stealth marketing of .NET is serving to focus the entire earth population on .NET. This only diminishes the exposure and reputation of products that do not fit into that creation - especially those (other) products of the company owning and pushing .NET. I suspect that this is one powerful reason that OFFICE.NET is under development. That other companies are being affected is evidenced by their announcements to deliver .NET versions of their core products.