George, here are two links that may help: VFP tables vs MSDE was hotly debated with many opinions in this long thread:

Free tables vs DBC Thread #740632 Message #740632

and --sb-- suggested in a related post

Appropriate Uses of MSDE at http://www.microsoft.com/sql/howtobuy/msdeuse.asp


HTH


>VFP or MSDE for a reporting server?
>
>Main requirements are:
>1) Robust ETL capability (DTS and VFP) (Sybase Anywhere)
>2) Speed of querys (adhoc and canned)
>3) Crystal Reports compatibility
>4) 5 users max
>
>VFP
>No OLAP Cubing
>No security
>
>Yes, when you buy VFP you get MSDE distro rights.
>
>Developers hands-on comments welcomed