Could someone help me with a problem that has recently challenged me
in my research ? I have to design a client-server system to support a
big database on computational linguistics at our university computer
lab (using ODBC drivers) and I am somewhat at sea as to a) which DBMS
to use, and b) which programming system to choose to program the
access and user interface.

The choices suggested by our system manager are: for databases -
FoxPro for Windows, Paradox for Windows, MS Access, Clipper for
Windows, Borland Delphi'95, PowerBuilder, JAM for Windows, Oracle
(Oracle Cooperative Development Environment), Informix-NewEra; for
programming - MS Visual C++, MS Visual Basic, Borland C++ with
Database Engine.

I have extensive experience working with Oracle (ver.5,6) and some
ideas about MS Access, and I use Microsoft Visual C++ all the time,
but I cannot evaluate this huge range of software in terms of
compatibility, efficiency, etc. Could someone who has had more
experience working with the above-mentioned products give me some
lights as to what could be the best choices in my case?

Thanks A LOT,

Alex