Interesting in the second presentation mention is the application to
migrate from Oracle to SQL Server. I remember long time ago when the
first NT servers appear in the market, and Microsoft did exactly the
same thing to get users from Novell (the market leader in servers at the
time). It worked well at the time.

The fact is that it's simple for Microsoft to do this kind of things, as
long as they keep the leadership of desktop operating systems. Companies
use to have a contract with Microsoft for servers, desktop operating
systems, that usually include CAL's. So migrating from Oracle to SQL
Server is a smart move for some CEO, just because is almost immediately
visible in the budget. What I'm trying to say here is that the income
from getting market from Oracle will not be proportional to the number
of licenses not sold by Oracle: Oracle looses more that Microsoft wins.
The old Microsoft way...

What makes me think about a good tool to migrate from SQL Server to
Firebird...

But we do have Fyracle doing a great job on this area, and with M$
getting customers from Oracle, maybe Paul is already thinking about
FyreServer (Firebird SQL Server mode). :-))

One thing that is really important is the MSDE. There are lots of
companies that start with it and migrate to SQL Server later just
because they need to. That's why our Embedded Server is so important for
us, and we need to continue to push it the best we can.

Good reports, Paul!
You really are the person that keeps a close eye on this so important
matter, what makes us all remove our eyes from code to market... :-))

Artur