Peyman Zehtab-Fard wrote:

>
> * Availability of ODBC drivers
> I know there were commercial ones available IB. How about FB. I did
> not see one on the project lists.

The two main commercial ones support Firebird. See for yourself:
Easysoft:
http://www.easysoft.com/products/interbase/main.phtml
Gemini:
http://www.ibdatabase.com/
In addition, the IBPhoenix free ODBC driver has some volunteers working on
it. There's also the XTG driver. They aren't as polished as the commercial
ones.

> * ADO Provider for FB
> I know about one year ago there was one being developed for IB.

Not the only one, but it specifically supports Firebird and I personally use
it:
http://www.ibprovider.com/eng/index.html
Another effort from Brazil:
http://www.sibprovider.com/en_us/default.asp

We have also a third party (paid) DbExpress/DataDirect driver for FB and a
free, open source .NET provider for FB, that's hosted inside the FB space at
SF.

> * Backup/replication
> Any info. (links, project names,....)

May be outdated, but...
http://www.cvalde.com/misc/packages_and_utilities.htm

> * How does FB 1.5 compare to other databases such as mySQL and SQL
> Server 2000.

Interbase was designed as a full fledged DBMS, not a Paradox-like thing that
got transaction support later and other features coupled by brute force. :-)
The Firebird optimizer is much better than the IB one, so it will make
faster answers without too much manual tweaking. The replication module is
separate and commercial. I never have read that MsSql can run on different
HW/OS platforms like FB. :-) In FB, you write procedures in a structured
language. MsSql procedure language resembles DOS batch files to me. While
other DBMS struggle to offer easy administration and optimistic locking now
as an innovation, IB was born with these design goals, so FB inherited them.
Etc, etc.

C.
--
Claudio Valderrama C.
Consultant, SW developer.
www.cvalde.com - www.firebirdSql.org