Visual FoxPro developers from around the world gathered at Visual FoxPro DevCon 2002 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for the official launch of Microsoft Visual FoxPro 8 (formerly "Toledo"). Each attendee received a CD of the VFP 8. Microsoft Visual FoxPro group product manager Ricardo Wenger, Visual FoxPro product manager Ken Levy, and other Microsoft team members introduced many of the compelling new features in the keynote address.
Microsoft Visual FoxPro 8 is based largely on developer feedback. VFP 8 provides a better smart client and new ways of working with data. It's focused on increasing developer productivity, and is more "discoverable" (i.e., easier to use and figure out) than previous versions. The Fox team also proudly announced that VFP 8 is currently more stable than VFP 7 SP1, and that it's the most exciting release since VFP 3.
The user interface in the new version is similar to Windows XP. It also integrates well with Visual Studio .NET. For example, a form created in Visual Studio .NET works with FoxPro data. VFP 8 also extends interoperability with SQL Server.
Microsoft also provided a brief glimpse of the next version, Visual FoxPro 9 (Europa). It's still in the early stages, but one potential feature demonstrated by Calvin is a new way of resizing forms.
News source: Bink Windows XP
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