<CLIP>
>What's the advantage now?
</CLIP>

Becuause then, like ALL objects, there are STANDARD ways to deal with strings.

Since a String-variable is an Object, it has properties, such as .Length,
and standard methods, such as .Compare, .EndsWith, and .ToLower. In addtiion,
since ALL strings derive from the Base Object class, then a String variable
can be passed to a more generic Function, which can accept and work on a
variable of TYPE Object, rather than a String alone. So for instance, it
becomes possible, with .NET, to write a GENERIC SORT routine, which can sort
OBJECTS, rather than having to write an Integer Sort, and a separate String
Sort.

Arthur Wood