>How about suggesting VFP with a MS/SQL back end (7 is around the corner & previews are +ve) - it's all MS & works very well.

I suppose the best choice depends on the nature of the application. For a numerically intensive application, or one that needs to have a highly customized front end, or that needs to be a little more ActiveX-friendly, then one might choose Delphi. For a data-intensive application, VFP would be a good choice.