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- From: Cy Shuster <cy@borland.com>
- Subject: Re: dbase III+ vs. dbase IV
- Message-ID: <BxMAuz.EKs@borland.com>
- X-Xxmessage-Id: <A727EDEC0E010A2D@cy3.borland.com>
- X-Xxdate: Thu, 12 Nov 92 19:18:04 GMT
- Sender: news@borland.com (News Admin)
- Organization: Borland International
- X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d10
- References: <1992Nov10.134148.7092@ecsvax.uncecs.edu>
- Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 19:16:11 GMT
- Lines: 34
-
- In article <1992Nov10.134148.7092@ecsvax.uncecs.edu>, dgm@ecsvax.uncecs.edu
- (Debby Morley) writes:
- >
- > I am curious as to why so many people have held onto and prefer dbase III+
- to
- > the newer dbase IV. Can someone please summarize the differences in these
- > two (DOS) products for me?
-
- BIAS ALERT: I work for Borland, on dBASE IV.
-
- The most useful distinction today is in the amount of resources each
- requires: III+ works fine on systems all the way back to XTs; IV works best
- on newer systems. III+ can run on floppy-only systems; IV requires a hard
- disk.
-
- Many people held on to III+ when IV came out back in '88 because of many
- problems with the first release. But since then, there's been dBASE IV 1.1
- and now 1.5, released in February this year by Borland. III+ was first
- released in '85, practically the Bronze Age of microcomputing -- and people
- wonder why it doesn't support extended memory!
-
- If you are new to dBASE, and have a 286 or better machine and a couple of meg
- free on your hard disk, I recommend dBASE IV: there have been major
- improvements that make life easier for both the first-time user as well as
- the experienced programmer. I see many comments from people on our CompuServe
- forum who are coming over from III+ and find using the menus in the Control
- Center they can easily create applications. If money's tight or your disk is
- full, go for III+: you can upgrade later on, and both your data and your
- programs will be compatible (the IV language is almost 100% a superset of
- III+).
-
- --Cy-- (no offense taken, Peter!)
-
- DISCLAIMER: My opinions only, not the company's!
-