You were a constructive critic, not a sycophant. From this perspective, they didn’t appreciate what a friend you were.
1 Like
This might be the same company I gave introductory training in 4D, they were almost all Mac and looking to move from FileMaker. They told me that they will have someone for RealBasic training after mine. So, did they finally moved to Xojo?
good read, making me sad… i shed a tear… it’s the same sad story for many years now with a more clearer destination.
For those seeking an alternative solution and who prefer a Basic-like language, PureBasic is undoubtedly a good option. It has a very affordable lifetime license.
Also, AI (ChatGPT) can write most of your application in PureBasic if you create detailed prompts. Afterwards, you start modifying/changing the generated code and make it your own.
When you don’t know how to make something work or want instructions on how to carry out a certain task, just ask ChatGPT. It is not always correct and you need to have a good understanding of the language but ChatGPT/PureBasic/Your knowledge, will save you time.
Don’t renew your Xojo license in panic. Just look for a better and more reliable solution. Just use your current Xojo license to port your application to the new environment.
Be assured this is the beginning of the end for Xojo. Better the short pain now than a long pain in the future.
To give you an example, Mochahost raised their tariffs by 25%. Within a week, we moved our content to another UK provider. When they found out, they offered us an even greater discount than what we paid in the past. We kindly refused the offer; it was simply too late and not done.
Techsmith (Camtasia/Snaggit) raised their prices too. However, it was a fair raise considering that under Trumps tariffs, life became more expensive in the US. We just accepted Techsmith fair price raises.
I think I made my point clear.
1 Like
Good blog post but I just want to expand on the potential of PureBasic and its sister product SpiderBasic.
You included PureBasic in the Desktop section but it can also target Raspberry Pi and Web back-end. Both CGI and FastCGI commands are included as well as connectivity to a variety of databases including MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite and ODBC.
SpiderBasic can target Android, iOS and Web front-end.
And the combined cost of both is less than even Xojo Lite was.
As a further bonus if you discover a bug post the details in the relevant section of the forum and there’s a decent probability of it getting fixed 
1 Like
what error reporter code from bob… I don’t remember that
Does it produce native-looking UI?
I’ve considered moving away from Xojo, but I’m sure I’ll regret things available in Xojo and not elsewhere (not sure which, but it can look pointless to have spent hours in learning a new language and discovering things not supported there; it may be very well that Xojo suits my needs better, after all).
1 Like
It sure is! 
Are you looking specifically for a Basic-like language or open to other alternatives?
I recall getting the example project from his old blog, years ago.
Feel free to add comments to the blog post. I did NOT do extensive research on the possibilities.
Sounds like it. IIRC they decided to stick with FileMaker. Can’t say it was a right or wrong decision but at least they kicked the tires on alternatives.
Purebasic uses native controls and it has a canvas control like Xojo for creating custom ones. Like Xojo, however, it can take a lot of work to produce a modern looking UI.
1 Like
Promasidor, that was the name of the company, just hit me, I was trying to remember what the name was since I read your original post. I think I still have that Belgian guy, I believe Serge was the name, in LinkedIn connections.
1 Like
Most definitely them. I really enjoyed my trip to Lagos since it was WAY out of my comfort zone. Serge was a great host.
1 Like
As noted, it uses the native widgets (Cocoa on Mac, GTK – and optionally Qt – on Linux, and WinForms on Windows). However, in full disclosure:
- It has fewer widget (“gadgets”) options than Xojo
- Its gadgets have fewer attributes for customization
These limitations can generally be overcome with:
- API calls, though of course this isn’t cross platform
- Using a Canvas to render your own (just like Xojo); there a many open source or available options here (often, the source code is right on the forum pages)
- Using the Webview control to create “modern” UIs
I haven’t found this to be a significant issue and would definitely offer Purebasic as a great transition option.
You could use Java Swing with FlatLaf look and feel and even use the native File Choosers on all Desktop platforms as well. So you would end up with an on all platforms running souce code at all.
As a hobbyist, I’d like to stick with what I know most, so preferably Basic-like languages, yes.
Thanks for your answers.
Geoff Perlman and the Xojo employees are not gonna like to read what is written in this thread.
Not our problem.
What makes me angry is that they just lock thread after thread about the price rise subject. Why not open the discussion in a civilized way? The way it goes now, it seems the beginning of the end for Xojo.
When you are still using Xojo and are in doubt, just install the free version of PureBasic (if you prefer to stay with BASIC) and see if it works for you. PureBasic, ChatGPT and you are the perfect team for creating great applications. Don’t fear the unknown!
2 Likes
I made the comment to co-workers that this feels like the ‘middle of the end’. The beginning was Web 2 and offering zero transition from Web 1 and ignoring long time developers concerns/warnings with API 2.
With a former client (when I stopped doing consulting) I offered this advice: Do you really want to bet your business that Xojo is still around in 5 or 10 years? Use the next few years wisely to choose your next development environment.
5 Likes