as dev2k/9i will be different, what is same?

as I just did read from OTN that developer/2000 release 9i will be aimed for web application development and it will lack some features that release 6i has, it might be difficult for us to continue using developer 2k. Our field of business is process automation and I kind of doupt that [Quoted] we won't be delivering process automation as web applications. Therefore I'm asking: what viable alternatives or replacements there are for developer 2000? We might adopt another application development suite or turn to something more programming-language-like approach, here at least delphi comes to my mind. We're seeking a thingie to produce forms, draw graphics, make pretty complex functionality behind forms, access usually just one database, run the user interfaces in unix/nt and do that in enviroment that our customer can purchase support for.

When looking for application development suites, the buzzword of the day (and last few years, it seems to me) is web deployment. This is fine, but not for us.

-- 
Antti Järvinen, costello_at_iki.fi
            "concerto for two faggots and orchestra"