VFP's future has not looked good for quite some time. I don't think
Microsoft will discontinue it, but Microsoft seem to have cut VFP off
from the vine; hence, with each new release by Microsoft's new Windows
desktop and Server OS, VFP will become more and more obsolete. Here is
the pattern:
1) Microsoft refused to extend VFP table capacity beyond its 2 gig
limit, when Microsoft originally acquired VFP.
2) Microsoft dropped support of ODBC support for VFP, as of VFP 7, when
it adopted its OLE DB driver. This occurred even though ODBC was faster
than OLE DB and even though ODBC was the industrial standard used by all
databases including DB2, MSSQL, Oracle, Informix, Sybase, MySQL,
PostgreSQL, etc. There was absolute no need for the change; except, to
make the driver connection to MSSQL proprietary. This caused much grief
with the need to update VFP cleint server applications that connected to
the database of TCP/IP; rather, than NETBIOS.
3) As of VFP9, it is no longer possible to develop apps in anything
less than Window 2000 or Window XP, even though VFP application conpiled
on these platforms can be run under Windows 95, Window SE, etc.
4) Micorsoft has refused to port VFP to the 64 bit world of Microsoft's
forthcoming Windows OS for desktops and servers. VFP will run on the 64
bit Window OS, but in an emulation, rather than a native mode.
5) Although current Intel and ADM 64 bit processors are produced to
handle applications compiled in 32 bit in emulation mode, over time, as
more and more new computers replace older modules, the 32 bit emulation
will likely be dropped in favor of optimized 64 bit hardware and
software, which leads me to believe that VFP will run worse and worse
with each new release of hardware and software, much like MSDos
transitioned from 8 bit to 16 bit to 32 bit, etc, eveutually leading to
VFP obsolescence.
My comments on each point:
(1) To me this is a non-issue. If your database(s) are going to exceed
that limit you should be using something other than dbf's anyway.
(2) ODBC still works on later versions for me.
(3) If the finished product runs on earlier platforms, great. Why
would you want to develop on the old technology?
(4) and (5) It will be a long time before software catches up to
hardware in this respect, we're talking years here.
I just installed 32bit Linux on a 64bit server because the Linux
application they needed the server for would not work with
64bit Linux and according to the application developers they
don't know when or if they ever will port their application to 64bit.
Jim Eddins
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