SNIP
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>I have to disagree with, at least, part of your assesment.
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>I was in management for over 17 years prior to becoming a programmer. If VFP wasn't making money for MS, then VFP would no longer exist. It does exist and from what we've been told, yet another version is in the works.
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>When VFP doesn't make money, then it will die.

I've gotta argue that such cannot ALWAYS be the case.
There may be compelling reasons for MS to keep VFP around and under development, especially in today's (software) business environment.
- ANY reason to retain Windows® as the DeskTop OS and as the server OS is useful given competition and user "mood";
- the optics of leaving a large install-base in the lurch would not be good for a LARGE corporation;
- .NET still has a way to go before widespread 'acceptance' is clear;
- just as IE 'doesn't make money' but is a "pathway" to other revenue-generating products, so VFP is in the same boat and with arguable a wider swath than IE.

In any large corporation there is lots more than just 'must make money' that goes into a decision.
I will agree, of course, that any decision becomes much easier when a product is profitable.