The contents of the body of this page are 100% Copyright (C) 1991 by PC Week magazine, now known as eWeek. It is my hope that they will view the few selected articles that I have posted on my site as a tribute. As far as I know, these back issues are not available anywhere on-line.
Delayed Graphical Products Put Dent in Borland's Image
PC Week - 1992-04-20 - Page 4 - by Karen D. Moser
MONTEREY, Calif. — Borland International Inc., which has touted its expertise in delivering applications rapidly, has hit a development slump.
After a year of talking up its Windows versions of dBASE and Paradox and its OS/2 version of Borland C+ + , Borland is still months from delivering those products, and deadlines continue to slip (see chart at right). In addition, Quattro Pro for Windows, widely expected in late 1991, is due no sooner than June.
Users eagerly awaiting Borland’s move into graphical computing are getting frustrated.
“My feeling is that they are putting together a very good product (Paradox for Windows), and I understand how delays happen,” said Steven Kovitz, president of Compuvision, a Windows consulting firm in Detroit. “But it’s really frustrating to have been shown the product and not be able to try these things out.”
Wall Street is growing skeptical of Borland’s development prowess as well. Borland’s stock has drifted from a high of 86 in January to 52 last week.
“Borland keeps slipping dates back a little bit at a time, instead of just giving a realistic timeframe,” said Terence Quinn, a senior vice president with Kidder, Peabody & Co., a brokerage firm in New York. “[Its] Management and stock are held in as high esteem as Microsoft’s. Borland has some tremendous talent and development capabilities, but they’re starting to be perceived of the same as Lotus.”
Both Lotus Development Corp. and WordPerfect Corp. struggled to deliver Windows versions of their flagship applications. Until recently, Borland escaped criticism for delays, in part by hyping the object-oriented technology it claims helped it deliver rapid upgrades to Quattro Pro for DOS. The Scotts Valley, Calif., company also surged ahead of Microsoft Corp. by delivering three versions of Borland C++ before Microsoft shipped its first C+ + compiler.
Borland spokeswoman Heidi Sinclair said the products are delayed because it takes longer to deliver the first versions of graphical-interface products.
‘We are doing a complete rewrite of these products,” she said. “Once we finish, we’ll be getting new iterations out as fast as, if not faster, than we usually do.”
Borland has increased user frustration by keeping the industry at a fever pitch with a yearlong series of promotions for its graphical products.
Users are becoming disgruntled as products repeatedly slip. “Neither Paradox for Windows nor the full dBASE for Windows will be shipping for quite a while,” said one beta tester and database consultant. “The result is that I lost all my client work [for Windows].”
Pre-alpha testers of dBASE for Windows say the compiler portion of the product will not be ready until the fourth quarter. A full-blown dBASE for Windows, with both the compiler and an interactive end-user interface, is not due until 1993, they said.
Borland’s C+ + for OS/2 will slip to the fourth quarter of 1992, said company officials last week.
Despite the delays, development goes on. This quarter, Borland will ship two Windows 3.1 upgrades — Turbo Pascal for Windows 1 .5 and Borland C+ + 3. 1 — and ObjectVision for OS/2 will be shipped in May or June, officials said. Turbo Pascal for Windows will be priced at $149.95, with an upgrade price of $49.95. A Windows 3.1-compatible upgrade for C++ users will cost $40, or $495 for new users.
Borland C+ + for OS/2 will enter an Early Experience Program (EEP) in June, officials said. For $749, developers will receive three EEP versions, with the last due in October.
After a year of talking up its Windows versions of dBASE and Paradox and its OS/2 version of Borland C+ + , Borland is still months from delivering those products, and deadlines continue to slip (see chart at right). In addition, Quattro Pro for Windows, widely expected in late 1991, is due no sooner than June.
Users eagerly awaiting Borland’s move into graphical computing are getting frustrated.
“My feeling is that they are putting together a very good product (Paradox for Windows), and I understand how delays happen,” said Steven Kovitz, president of Compuvision, a Windows consulting firm in Detroit. “But it’s really frustrating to have been shown the product and not be able to try these things out.”
Wall Street is growing skeptical of Borland’s development prowess as well. Borland’s stock has drifted from a high of 86 in January to 52 last week.
“Borland keeps slipping dates back a little bit at a time, instead of just giving a realistic timeframe,” said Terence Quinn, a senior vice president with Kidder, Peabody & Co., a brokerage firm in New York. “[Its] Management and stock are held in as high esteem as Microsoft’s. Borland has some tremendous talent and development capabilities, but they’re starting to be perceived of the same as Lotus.”
Both Lotus Development Corp. and WordPerfect Corp. struggled to deliver Windows versions of their flagship applications. Until recently, Borland escaped criticism for delays, in part by hyping the object-oriented technology it claims helped it deliver rapid upgrades to Quattro Pro for DOS. The Scotts Valley, Calif., company also surged ahead of Microsoft Corp. by delivering three versions of Borland C++ before Microsoft shipped its first C+ + compiler.
Borland spokeswoman Heidi Sinclair said the products are delayed because it takes longer to deliver the first versions of graphical-interface products.
‘We are doing a complete rewrite of these products,” she said. “Once we finish, we’ll be getting new iterations out as fast as, if not faster, than we usually do.”
Borland has increased user frustration by keeping the industry at a fever pitch with a yearlong series of promotions for its graphical products.
Users are becoming disgruntled as products repeatedly slip. “Neither Paradox for Windows nor the full dBASE for Windows will be shipping for quite a while,” said one beta tester and database consultant. “The result is that I lost all my client work [for Windows].”
Pre-alpha testers of dBASE for Windows say the compiler portion of the product will not be ready until the fourth quarter. A full-blown dBASE for Windows, with both the compiler and an interactive end-user interface, is not due until 1993, they said.
Borland’s C+ + for OS/2 will slip to the fourth quarter of 1992, said company officials last week.
Despite the delays, development goes on. This quarter, Borland will ship two Windows 3.1 upgrades — Turbo Pascal for Windows 1 .5 and Borland C+ + 3. 1 — and ObjectVision for OS/2 will be shipped in May or June, officials said. Turbo Pascal for Windows will be priced at $149.95, with an upgrade price of $49.95. A Windows 3.1-compatible upgrade for C++ users will cost $40, or $495 for new users.
Borland C+ + for OS/2 will enter an Early Experience Program (EEP) in June, officials said. For $749, developers will receive three EEP versions, with the last due in October.
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