In some other good comments Wirt said: >BASIC has the easiest to use, most robust IMAGE >interface of all of the languages on the HP3000. It's not very often I have to disagree with Wirt.... But I can't let this one pass: With respect to ease of use; au contraire: Transact/iX has the best Image interface, in my not-at-all-humble opinion !!!..... :-) And I might add that the SIGRAPID Executive Committee has fairly good reason to hope that it will be getting even better in the near future (come to SIGRAPID at HP World - Chicago if you are interested). And then on the serious subject at hand: >I can't think of a better way to accomplish that than to >have a simple, high-speed, reliable language like BASIC >be available to everyone, especially if the alternative is to >simply abandon both of the languages. Per Heather Goudey's last post and the "Category C" list on HP's web site, support for BASIC/V and a long list of other CM systems on MPE/iX will be ongoing... Ken Sletten