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"There will be no VFP 10" 3

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Darn...

I guess i will be following Dave's footsteps.

ASP.NET (instead of FoxWeb)
VB.NET/C# instead of FoxPro 9

*soabing

Ali Koumaiha
Wireless Toyz
Farmington Hills, Michigan
 
Exactly right, Mike. For current projects there is no need to panic. VFP will remain viable for many years. Even after "support" is ended. (Heck, we're just now getting the last of our DOS customers upgraded to our Windows version! ;-)) After all, there is still plenty of work going on in VB6 and support for that product ended several years ago.

HOWEVER, it does behoove each of us to seek an alternative for new projects and for an eventual replacement for VFP.

Personally, I'm not so sure .NET is the answer. More and more of our customers are clamoring for Linux support for our product so I'm looking closely at RealBasic. (It's sort of odd to be back in the Xplat world again, but it *is* the holy grail for a vertical market product.)
 
One important thing about is, the Release of Sedna will be at the end of summer and the VFP Team onlz has until then to fix bugs. So if there is anything you want fixed, report it through Connect. Afaik here:
There are known issues alreadz worked on, like UI stuff in Vista and embedded manifests.

Bye, Olaf.
 
In fact, we're still using and maintaining a fully functional 2.x Windows application in our company, that has many interprocess communications with cobol applications on a mainframe. Now granted, it could use some updating. (At least the fox side), but it hasn't been a big priority.

Which leads me to my belief that I know fox isn't going to immediately disappear, but companies that use fox are/will. Not the companies themselves, but the platforms they choose.
It seems they've fallen prey to the marketing strategies of MS.
That's my reasoning for learning new languages or platforms.

And yes, *nix is still a very strong choice of platform. But I have enough trouble learning new languages without throwing an OS into the mix.


That said, hopefully I can remain at my company or as an independent using fox until I can find a full time job golfing, fishing, woodworking or brewing beer. Or maybe even all of the above. [wink]




-Dave Summers-
[cheers]
Even more Fox stuff at:
 
For a useful comment on this, see Doug Hennig's blog (
Doug says, "Suppose the announcement was about Microsoft Word instead of VFP. Would that mean you have to switch to a different word processor?"

Of course you wouldn't. Just because Microsoft makes an announcement, that doesn't mean that the software suddenly stops working or is no longer appropriate.

He goes on to say that VFP (like Word) is pretty well a complete product. "The only thing left to do is finish up some Vista-related issues, and that'll be in SP2. ... I honestly can't think of any new feature I want in VFP that must be in the core (ie. VFP9.EXE)." So what's to stop you continuing to use the product almost indefinitely?

It's true the Microsoft will (might?) withdraw tech support in 2015, but does really matter. Do any of us really rely on Microsoft to answer out questions about VFP?

Mike



__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

My Visual FoxPro site: www.ml-consult.co.uk
 
Ummm ... I have recently used a support incident on a VFP issue that had me stumped. (A C++ runtime buffer overflow.)

But yes, it's rare. It was the 3rd time in 15 years. ;-)
 
We had been hearing essentially the same story for some time now, maybe a year or two. So this notice was to put a stop to all those saying, "Please don't abandon it!"

My sadness is that it is such a solid product now, at the pinnacle of it's capabilities, and it's a shame not to go one step farther and make it native 64-bit. I can't shake the feeling that leaving it as 32-bit with assorted limitations that the current design has, is going to be a real handicap as Windows Vista joins Linux and other OS's as a 64-bit OS.

As I understand it, .Net has a VFP Toolkit with ports of many great VFP functions and commands. At least that's something.

 
I can't shake the feeling that leaving it as 32-bit with assorted limitations that the current design has
Click to expand...

That puts it in the same boat as Office 2007. There's no 64-bit version of that either.

That whole line of thought is a boondoggle.
 
Do Not Know about anyone else, but whatever Database I use after this it will be....

NON-MICROSOFT.


David W. Grewe(Dave)
 
Dave,

Care to elaborate?
Obviously Oracle is non-MS, but I would be interested in any info you can provide on others (non-MS) you have worked with or checked into.


-Dave Summers-
[cheers]
Even more Fox stuff at:
 
DanFreeman, Office 2007 is not 64-bit? Sure, but isn't Microsoft eventually going to go 64-bit? Maybe Office 2010?

DaveSummers, while I haven't worked with it and may never work with it for all I know, I've heard of Python on Linux and it is 64-bit.
 
The problem is NOT whether VFP will be supported till 2005, but how do you convince potential customers to buy a product written in a language that Microsoft has dumped. It was tough enough earlier explaining that the rumors of VFP’s death were greatly exaggerated now that it’s official. Clients are not naive about technology as they once used to be.
 
I'm curious. Working as an in-house developer I never interact with "customers" as such - do a lot of them ask what language you've written your application in?

Stewart
 
Dave Summers,

I have not looked into what I want to used yet, But I have thought about Delphi, Oracle, SAP, Peoplesoft or (Yuck, Powerbuilder). But I do know if I have to use a SQL engine it will be MySQL from now on. MSSQL can take a Long Walk off a short board.

I've heard of a new Open Source Database application that uses DBF type files, but I have also heard that MS is putting out ("CodePage" spelling may not be right) which is a 32bit DBF type open souce application.

Rumor has it that German's and Aussie's are pissed because VFP is so large in those 2 countries that someone is trying to purchase the VFP code from MS.

So we may have a 3rd party VFP app from overseas soon.


David W. Grewe(Dave)
 
Dave,

whatever Database I use after this it will be.... NON-MICROSOFT.
Click to expand...

Why?

Whatever the future of VFP, it's unlikely to affect the likes of SQL Server.

Or maybe you mean that you don't want to give Microsoft your business, because you don't like the fact that there will be no VFP 10? If so, that seems a curious basis on which to choose something as important as a product for hosting your company's data.

Mike

__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

My Visual FoxPro site: www.ml-consult.co.uk
 
Stewart,

Working as an in-house developer I never interact with "customers" as such - do a lot of them ask what language you've written your application in?
Click to expand...

That's a good point.

As you know, I'm an independent developer. It's rare for a client to say to me "We need an application to be developed in VFP". (It's even rarer for them to say "We need an application developed in something other than VFP".)

Uusally, their interest is in having a better accounting system, or order processing application, or whatever. Sometimes they ask me what tools I will use, and, sometimes, when I mention VFP, there's a negative reaction -- it might even lead them to hire another developer. But that doesn't happen very often (at least, not yet).

Mike


__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

My Visual FoxPro site: www.ml-consult.co.uk
 
Mike,

Guess I'm just pissed off at M$, Standard M$ procedure is to Kill off any competition to the products they want the future world to use. VISTA is not taking off like they want it so they are trying to recall all XP software to force people to go to VISTA. Last I Heard VISAT will not run on 85% of the hardware on the market. Only way to run it is to purchase new hardware with it. Last I heard, No 3rd Party software has delivered drivers to M$ so the only products that run on VISTA is M$ products. Gee, how convenient.

So Now .NET is not taking off like they wanted it to so they are trying to kill off the competition to it. M$ purchased Fox to Kill it because it competed with Access and Basic. Now that VFP is in the way of .NET, Guess they will finally get thier way.

So Long story made short, I'll just Express my Free Will and let M$ know what I feel about them.



David W. Grewe(Dave)
 
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