Denis,

SET SOAPBOX ON   && To borrow a command from DavidF
SET IMHO    ON   && To cover myself :)
SET FWIW    ON   && Probably nothing

The question of the future of VFP is soooo staggeringly boring. Ever since VFP3 I have heard one “authority” after another claim that this was the final, final, absolutely final version that MS would produce (including from a MS marketing manager). And yet, we got VFP5, 6, 7, now 8, and 9 – Europa - announced.

MS, like any company producing any product, will continue to do so for as long it has a business motive for doing so. Not necessarily money, just a business motive, which they may or may not choose to disclose.

The desire by some to want MS to somehow guarantee the future of VFP is without basis in the world of business. No business does this anywhere for any product (unless that’s a selling point of the product itself of course).

As a developer how long will you continue to support and maintain a product that you built? For as long as it makes business sense to do so. Not necessarily financial sense but just good business sense.

I will use VFP for as long as it does the things I need a development platform to do. It is not MS’s responsibility to keep my skills up to date or for MS to guide me in my business. That’s my problem. They make tools. We can use them or not. That’s our choice.

I think that the MS VFP team must be tired of this discussion too. What must they do to finally convince the VFP community that the product has a future? How many versions must be built and released before we are convinced? How many wish list items programmed? How many new features added? Ken Levy has made clear what every VFP developer can do to help continue the VFP product line. It’s a simple thing really. And if I cannot afford the MSDN subscription as a professional developer can I really afford to be a developer?

Personally, I say thanks to the VFP team for making a product that I have consistently managed to use to outperform my competitors, to build my business on, and to immensely enjoy using every day.

SET FWIW    OFF
SET IMHO    OFF
SET SOAPBOX OFF