>I "really" don't think .NET should be discounted ... tho I think BORLAND does it better (and pretty well always has) ...

Microsoft have never created anything (decent) by themselves, they've always adopted the "real" professional's products, we all know that by now.

>But speaking of "native data engine" ... considering the CDX bloat bug in VFP 7.0, the problems with "cursor adaptor" in VFP 8.0 (among other things), the flakey support for "file servers" in W2K / XP ... I'm wondering about all the flies in the ointment ...

Yes, they do seem to be avoiding any solid updates and improvements with regards to the data-engine, and of course the cursor adaptor takes you away from that, plus all the emphasis for VFP+SQL Server.

However, the improved updates on the OO side like event-binding and support collections is, IMO, a plan to get VFPers familiar with some of these OO concepts to ease eventual migration over to .Net.

>If I was a cynical type, I'd think this was all being done on purpose ... (negligence).

My view on this situation has always been the same, MS are going to butter-up the Fox community with some great updates, not just normal updates, but ones that bring you closer to the features that are available in VB and C#, I still think that a lot of Fox developers are being lead down a path leading to one place only - .Net.

Kev