Hi Craig,
Let's be clear. This is a stupid move for a software company. Why does an upgrade mean replacing? It could just as easily mean you have a license for the new version, just like you had with the old. Thinking like an owner, I think MS has make a stupid mistake, and my guess is the right hand didn't know what the left was doing. (Legal-Marketing) Early on Ken Levy and others sort of in the know acted as if multiple versions through the upgrade process was OK. Now, after some legal eagle explained the new EULA, we all find out what it means.
The current reading of the upgrade policy seems to be a hoax. Let's restate it. You currently have a license for VFP and that probably means you have existing applications. You wish to upgrade to the latest version. But without a great deal of work, you can't rebuilt your VFP 6.0 app with VFP 6. So what good is an upgrade? It's a joke.

You say, "The new license is correct." Huh? How about "It renders the upgrade option useless."
The price for new versions, from an MS point of view, should be based on what the market will bear, and for VFPers, what will keep them moving in a .NET way and a continuing customer of MS development products. The price isn't set by what the product is worth, it is set by what customers will pay in a competitive market.
From all accounts VFP 8 is a great product. The EULA issue just gives people a reason not to upgrade, and from a marketing standpoint, is really stupid. All we can hope, and I think this a pretty good hope; is that most people won't read it or understand it.


>I've been thinking about the changes in the VFP8 EULA regarding upgrades since last week and what it means to upgrade and I've changed my thinking on this. Upgrading software means that you replace the old with the new. In this sense, the terminology in the new license is correct. In fact, if you go back and read older licenses, they imply the same thing, but it isn't clear cut as it is now. The new license is correct. If you need multiple versions side by side, buy the full version or better yet, get an MSDN subscription.