Editing Borland (section)

===The 1990s: Rise and change===
In September 1991, Borland purchased [[Ashton-Tate]], bringing the [[dBASE]] and [[InterBase]] databases to the house, in an all-stock transaction.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1991-07-11|title=Borland to Acquire Ashton-Tate in a $439-Million Deal|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-07-11-fi-3022-story.html|access-date=2020-10-01|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}</ref> However, competition with Microsoft was fierce. [[Microsoft]] launched the competing database [[Microsoft Access]] and bought the dBASE clone [[FoxPro]] in 1992, undercutting Borland's prices. During the early 1990s, Borland's implementation of [[C (programming language)|C]] and [[C++]] outsold Microsoft's. Borland survived as a company, but no longer dominated the software tools that it once had. It went through a radical transition in products, financing, and staff, and became a very different company from the one which challenged Microsoft and Lotus in the early 1990s.

The internal problems that arose with the Ashton-Tate merger were a large part of the downfall. Ashton-Tate's product portfolio proved to be weak, with no provision for evolution into the GUI environment of Windows. Almost all product lines were discontinued. The consolidation of duplicate support and development offices was costly and disruptive. Worst of all, the highest revenue earner of the combined company was dBASE with no Windows version ready.<ref>[http://www.compuvision.info/delayed-graphical-products-put-dent-in-borlands-image.html Delayed Graphical Products Put Dent in Borland’s Image] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721192941/http://www.compuvision.info/delayed-graphical-products-put-dent-in-borlands-image.html |date=2011-07-21}}, PC Week, April 20, 1992</ref><ref name=latimes1>{{cite news |last=Weber |first=Jonathan |title=Kahn the Barbarian |work=Los Angeles Times |date=February 23, 1992 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-02-23-fi-5118-story.html |access-date=February 7, 2012}}</ref> Borland had an internal project to clone dBASE which was intended to run on Windows and was part of the strategy of the acquisition, but by late 1992 this was abandoned due to technical flaws and the company had to constitute a replacement team (the [[ObjectVision]] team, redeployed) headed by Bill Turpin to redo the job.

Borland lacked the financial strength to project its marketing and move internal resources off other products to shore up the dBASE/W effort. Layoffs occurred in 1993 to keep the company afloat, the third instance of this in five years. By the time dBASE for Windows eventually shipped, the developer community had moved on to other products such as Clipper or FoxBase, and dBASE never regained a significant share of Ashton-Tate's former market. This happened against the backdrop of the rise in Microsoft's combined Office product marketing.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}}

A change in market conditions also contributed to Borland's fall from prominence. In the 1980s, companies had few people who understood the growing personal computer phenomenon and so most technical people were given free rein to purchase whatever software they thought they needed. Borland had done an excellent job marketing to those with a highly technical bent. By the mid-1990s, however, companies were beginning to ask what the return was on the investment they had made in this loosely controlled PC software buying spree. Company executives were starting to ask questions that were hard for technically minded staff to answer, and so corporate standards began to be created. This required new kinds of marketing and support materials from software vendors, but Borland remained focused on the technical side of its products.

In 1993 Borland explored ties with [[WordPerfect]] as a possible way to form a suite of programs to rival Microsoft's nascent integration strategy. WordPerfect itself was struggling with a late and troubled transition to Windows. The eventual joint company effort, named Borland Office for Windows (a combination of the WordPerfect word processor, Quattro Pro spreadsheet, and Paradox database) was introduced at the 1993 Comdex computer show. Borland Office never made significant inroads against Microsoft Office. WordPerfect was then bought by [[Novell]]. In October 1994, Borland sold Quattro Pro and rights to sell up to a million copies of Paradox to Novell for $140 million in cash, repositioning the company on its core software development tools and the Interbase database engine and shifting toward client-server scenarios in corporate applications. This later proved a good foundation for the shift to web development tools.

[[Philippe Kahn]] and the Borland board disagreed on how to focus the company, and Kahn resigned as chairman, CEO and president, after 12 years, in January 1995.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Maney |first=Kevin |date=January 23, 2007 |title=Baby's arrival inspires birth of cellphone camera — and societal evolution |work=USA Today |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/kevinmaney/2007-01-23-kahn-cellphone-camera_x.htm |access-date=September 14, 2016}}</ref> Kahn remained on the board until November 7, 1996.<ref name="KahnBoard">{{cite press release|publisher=Borland |date=November 7, 1996 |url=http://www.borland.com/about/press/1996/pkresign.html |title=Kahn Resigns as Borland Director – Cites Increasing Demands of New Business |access-date=September 14, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010618010852/http://www.borland.com/about/press/1996/pkresign.html |archive-date=June 18, 2001}}</ref> Borland named Gary Wetsel as CEO, but he resigned in July 1996. [[William F. Miller]] was interim CEO until September of that year, when Whitney G. Lynn (the current chairman at mergers & acquisitions company XRP Healthcare) became interim president and CEO (along with other executive changes),<ref>{{Cite web |date=1996-09-25 |title=Borland Announces Interim President and CEO |url=http://www.borland.com/about/press/1996/interimceo.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010606134435/http://www.borland.com/about/press/1996/interimceo.html |archive-date=2001-06-06 |access-date=2016-09-14 |work=borland.com}}</ref> followed by a succession of CEOs including [[Dale Fuller (businessman)|Dale Fuller]] and Tod Nielsen.

The [[Delphi (software)|Delphi 1]] [[rapid application development]] (RAD) environment was launched in 1995, under the leadership of [[Anders Hejlsberg]].

In 1996 Borland acquired Open Environment Corporation,<ref>[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-18275531.html Borland to Acquire Open Environment Corporation]{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}} ''Business Wire'', May 13, 1996</ref> a Cambridge-based company founded by [[John J. Donovan]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=SEC Info - Open Environment Corp - '8-K' for 5/11/96 - EX-99.1 |url=http://www.secinfo.com/dsVQy.93Hk.c.htm |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=www.secinfo.com}}</ref>

On November 25, 1996, [[Del Yocam]] was hired as Borland CEO and chairman.

In 1997, Borland sold [[Paradox (database)|Paradox]] to [[Corel]], but retained all development rights for the core [[BDE (Borland)|BDE]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Corel takes Paradox command from stricken Borland|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/corel-takes-paradox-command-from-stricken-borland/|last=Veitch|first=Martin|website=ZDNet|language=en|access-date=2020-04-30}}</ref> In November 1997, Borland acquired Visigenic, a middleware company that was focused on implementations of CORBA.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Borland buys Visigenic|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/borland-buys-visigenic/|last=Kane|first=Margaret|website=ZDNet|language=en|access-date=2020-04-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Newswires |first=Dow Jones |date=1997-11-18 |title=Borland to Purchase Visigenic In Deal Valued at $150 million |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB879864222619935000 |access-date=2020-04-30 |issn=0099-9660}}</ref>