Tim : I went on a course on customising a Microsoft Great Plains personnel application built on FoxPro. Afterwards I wondered just where FoxPro fitted into the Microsoft family, and why it was needed given Access. A quick Google didn't turn up any answers. Your article confirms what I concluded eventually - a bright but awkward sibling. I find it strange that Microsoft kept it going for so long. If it were VW for example, and you couldn't distinguish the Golf and the Seat Ibiza then sales of the latter would drop and they would revamp it (as they have done) or kill it. I guess with software the installed user base has a lot more momentum than with cars.