When 2 dogs are doing something you don't want them doing, you throw some 
water on them, ice cold water that is. And here I come with a bucket of ice 
cold water.

First off, lets make a good comparison. FutureBASIC to programming is what 
Motorola is to processors, REAL Basic to programming is what Intel is to 
processors. This is true if you really think about it. REAL Basic does a hell 
of a lot more advertising then FutureBASIC does, REAL Basic gets a lot more 
press then FutureBASIC does, even if FutureBASIC is a more powerful then REAL 
Basic is.

There are some important things that we should take into consideration here.

No matter how much we may hate to admit it, REAL Basic is not a total piece 
of crap, there is quite a lot that it can do, maybe not as much or as fast as 
FutureBASIC, but obviously enough to satisfy REAL Basic users. We demand more 
stuff that can be done faster, that is why we use FutureBASIC.

The REAL Basic community may have more fuel to burn then the FutureBASIC 
community. Who does REAL Basic really appeal too? I am placing my bets on 
young persons, many under the age of 20, who are looking to learn how to 
program. Many of these young persons got REAL Basic as a gift from their 
parents, who hope that Jonny or Sally may actually make something out of 
themselves. What do these younger people have that many of us don't have? 
Time. And lots of it. Jonny and Sally don't have to put a roof over their 
head, or put food on the table. This isn't the case for everyone, but it 
still has a good impact.

So now, lets look at Quantity vs. Quality
REAL Basic has a market, where a lot of the users, in general, have a lot 
more time on their hands then we do. That means that can make more programs 
then we can, because they have the time. However, these people are new to 
programming, and because they are new means that many of them are not going 
to match the quality of the stuff that we are making.

I can use myself as an example, I have been using FutureBASIC for at least 6 
years now. I used make a game every 6 months. Now I am lucky if I can make a 
game in 2 years. That is because the quality of this game is far beyond what 
any of my other games could hope to ever be, and may make more money then the 
sales of all 5 of my games put together. So for me, quality is worth more 
then quantity. There may be more Windows boxes out there, so Windows has 
quantity, but the Mac has a better quality.

For FutureBASIC to win, REAL Basic has to loose? I doubt it. Staz has his 
spot in the market, and he isn't going anywhere. Just like Apple. We need to 
just make sure that we keep growing and all. I do my share to keep the 
FutureBASIC community strong, and that is where we are going to remain strong.

So what I say, lets forget the how many programs have been made in 
FutureBASIC thing, lets get back to making FutureBASIC do what it does best, 
rule!

'Nuff said, I still have my cold bucket of water reserved for Summer and all 
those out there who don't believe in the FutureBASIC 3 bunny..

Best,

Matthew Beedle
Foxchange Software
http://www.foxchange.com