Hi John,
Thanks for your comments, most of which I would broadly agree with.

In my oroginal Post, I did not go into the whole history of the client/projects.

This client has made a very significant investment in IT over the last number of years, is about to move over to a VFP8/9 application , and is extremely happy with his investment to date.

Do we throw everything out now, start developing in .Net and 'maybe' in two years time have a comparable system, or take a more gentle approcah, continue refining VFP and at the same time investigate if Dot Net (Or perhaps Java or Perhaps Delphior ano) would be a suitable replacement

The reason I was concerned about (shall we say Medium Term Strategy) for VFP was , because it would be a completely differnet scenario if Microsoft were to discontnue support for VFP within the nest two years (As it would also be for .Net, Java Cobol or any other langauge you wish to consider.)
Regards,
Gerard





>Hi Gerard,
>
>The whole 'Fox being supported until 2010' is not a solid point upon which to hang an argument. For one thing, being supported and being innovated are two distinct things. Beyond 2010, while .NET is likely to change between now and then, what .NET is today is on the path of what MS is strategically getting behind. As you say, this is a 5 year plan. You do realize that at the end of 5 years, it will be 2009. That means it is quite possible that Fox will only have a year or 2 - perhaps 3 years of support. My guess is that that it is very likely - more sooner than later, that the last version of Fox will ship during this next 5 year period. Couple that with the fact that it is very difficult to find good Fox talent anymore.
>
>When it comes to justifying Fox as a strategic choice for any 5 year plan, the deck is not stacked in your favor.
>
>Look at it this way...compare the resources you can point to from MS that would justify Fox as a solution - as compared to .NET. Do you really think you will be able to convince your managers otherwise? More importantly, should you try to convince them? In my opinion, it is borderline negligence to seriously consider Fox in any 5 year plan when .NET or other technologies are on the table.
>
>Like Kevin, I like Fox, it has been a great tool - but its best days are behind it. Like it or not, it is a legacy technology....
>
>
>John
>
>
>>Hi Kevin.
>>This is just a general meeting, a 'Where are we going over the next five years scenario'
>>
>>The client has a lot of plans for development and a reasonable budget to boot
>>He has heard about recent innovations (V Studio, Web based developments etc) and wants to map out a framework for the next few years.
>>
>>Regards,
>>Gerard
>>
>>
>>>I suspected something like that, hence the need to have a 'show of proof' about long-term support.
>>>
>>>If you don't mind me asking, what are meeting objectives/main points of discussion?
>>>
>>>Kevin