<s>
Paradox	B-Application
is	O
a	O
relational	B-Application
database	I-Application
management	I-Application
system	I-Application
currently	O
published	O
by	O
Corel	O
Corporation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
originally	O
released	O
for	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
by	O
Ansa	O
Software	O
,	O
and	O
then	O
updated	O
by	O
Borland	O
after	O
it	O
bought	O
the	O
company	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
dBase	B-Application
product	O
line	O
;	O
A	O
Windows	O
version	O
was	O
planned	O
for	O
release	O
by	O
Borland	O
in	O
1992	O
,	O
but	O
was	O
delayed	O
until	O
January	O
1993	O
,	O
by	O
which	O
time	O
Microsoft	B-Application
's	I-Application
Access	I-Application
for	I-Application
Windows	I-Application
was	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paradox	B-Application
for	O
DOS	O
was	O
a	O
relational	B-Application
database	I-Application
management	I-Application
system	I-Application
originally	O
written	O
by	O
Richard	O
Schwartz	O
and	O
Robert	O
Shostak	O
,	O
and	O
released	O
by	O
their	O
Belmont	O
,	O
California-based	O
company	O
Ansa	O
Software	O
in	O
1985	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
New	O
York	O
Times	O
described	O
it	O
as	O
"	O
among	O
the	O
first	O
of	O
an	O
emerging	O
generation	O
of	O
software	O
making	O
extensive	O
use	O
of	O
artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
techniques	O
,	O
"	O
and	O
noted	O
that	O
Paradox	B-Application
could	O
read	O
the	O
competing	O
Ashton	O
Tate	O
's	O
dBase	B-Application
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
1987	O
,	O
Borland	O
purchased	O
Ansa	O
Software	O
,	O
including	O
their	O
Paradox/DOS	O
2.0	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
4.0	O
and	O
4.5	O
were	O
retooled	O
in	O
the	O
Borland	O
C++	O
windowing	O
toolkit	O
and	O
used	O
a	O
different	O
extended	B-Device
memory	I-Device
access	O
scheme	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paradox/DOS	O
was	O
a	O
successful	O
DOS-based	O
database	O
of	O
the	O
late	O
1980s	O
and	O
early	O
1990s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
that	O
time	O
,	O
dBase	B-Application
and	O
its	O
xBase	B-Language
clones	O
(	O
Foxpro	B-Application
,	O
Clipper	B-Application
)	O
dominated	O
the	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
notable	O
competitors	O
were	O
Clarion	B-Language
,	O
DataEase	B-Application
,	O
R:Base	B-Application
,	O
and	O
DataFlex	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
features	O
that	O
distinguished	O
Paradox/DOS	O
were	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
enhanced	O
design	O
and	O
implementation	O
of	O
visual	O
Query	B-Application
by	I-Application
Example	I-Application
that	O
was	O
supported	O
by	O
an	O
AI	B-Application
engine	O
for	O
heuristic	B-Algorithm
,	O
dynamic	O
query	B-Language
optimization	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Effective	O
use	O
of	O
conventional	O
,	O
extended	B-Device
,	O
and	O
expanded	B-Device
memory	I-Device
–	O
caching	O
data	O
tables	O
and	O
particularly	O
indexes	O
,	O
which	O
caused	O
Paradox	B-Application
to	O
execute	O
tasks	O
very	O
quickly	O
in	O
contrast	O
to	O
the	O
explicit	O
skills	O
required	O
for	O
xBase	B-Language
performance	O
optimisation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
innovative	O
programming	O
language	O
,	O
the	O
Paradox	B-Application
Application	O
Language	O
(	O
PAL	O
)	O
,	O
that	O
was	O
readable	O
,	O
powerful	O
,	O
and	O
could	O
be	O
recorded	O
from	O
keyboard	O
actions	O
(	O
rather	O
like	O
Lotus	B-Application
1-2-3	I-Application
macro	O
recording	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lotus-like	O
text	O
menus	O
and	O
windows	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
the	O
native	O
interface	O
(	O
in	O
contrast	O
to	O
dBase	B-Application
,	O
which	O
had	O
a	O
command-line	O
interface	O
with	O
menus	O
layered	O
on	O
top	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Particularly	O
in	O
Paradox	B-Application
1.0	O
and	O
2.0	O
,	O
the	O
user	O
and	O
programming	O
manuals	O
won	O
readability	O
awards	O
–	O
they	O
were	O
copiously	O
illustrated	O
,	O
well	O
laid	O
out	O
,	O
and	O
explanations	O
were	O
written	O
in	O
common	O
English	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
a	O
few	O
MSDOS	B-Application
emulators	O
,	O
among	O
which	O
are	O
https://dbdos.com/	O
(	O
a	O
paid-for	O
product	O
)	O
and	O
https://www.vdos.info/	O
(	O
which	O
has	O
a	O
freeware	O
option	O
)	O
,	O
both	O
of	O
which	O
provide	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
run	O
Paradox	B-Application
for	O
DOS	O
applications	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
Paradox	B-Application
4.5	O
for	O
DOS	O
)	O
on	O
Windows	O
Vista	O
and	O
above	O
64-bit	O
operating	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paradox	B-Application
for	O
Windows	O
is	O
distinctly	O
different	O
from	O
Paradox	B-Application
for	O
DOS	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
produced	O
by	O
a	O
different	O
team	O
of	O
programmers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paradox	B-Application
for	O
Windows	O
applications	O
are	O
programmed	O
in	O
a	O
different	O
programming	O
language	O
called	O
ObjectPAL	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
key	O
features	O
of	O
the	O
DOS	O
product	O
,	O
the	O
QBE	B-Application
and	O
the	O
database	O
engine	O
,	O
were	O
ports	O
keeping	O
the	O
DOS	O
code	O
,	O
there	O
was	O
a	O
major	O
break	O
in	O
compatibility	O
from	O
PAL	O
to	O
ObjectPAL	B-Language
and	O
in	O
the	O
shift	O
to	O
a	O
GUI	O
design	O
metaphor	O
for	O
Forms	O
and	O
Reports	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ObjectPAL	B-Language
changes	O
were	O
controversial	O
but	O
forced	O
since	O
PAL	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
keystroke	O
recording	O
actions	O
that	O
had	O
no	O
equivalent	O
in	O
Windows	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
object-based	B-Application
language	I-Application
based	O
on	O
ideas	O
from	O
Hypercard	B-Application
was	O
used	O
in	O
place	O
of	O
keystroke	O
recording	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
mouse	O
right-click	O
was	O
used	O
for	O
access	O
to	O
Forms	O
and	O
Reports	O
properties	O
,	O
inspired	O
by	O
the	O
Xerox	B-Device
Alto	I-Device
and	O
Smalltalk	B-Application
,	O
in	O
a	O
way	O
now	O
almost	O
universal	O
to	O
Windows	O
programs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ObjectPAL	B-Language
was	O
(	O
like	O
Hypercard	B-Application
)	O
associated	O
with	O
the	O
visual	O
objects	O
-	O
also	O
revealed	O
by	O
right	O
click	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
approximately	O
the	O
first	O
year	O
of	O
development	O
the	O
object-oriented	B-Language
code	I-Language
was	O
written	O
in	O
C	O
aided	O
by	O
macros	O
,	O
until	O
Turbo	B-Application
C++	I-Application
was	O
available	O
,	O
at	O
which	O
point	O
the	O
remaining	O
parts	O
of	O
the	O
code	O
were	O
written	O
in	O
C++	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
Paradox	B-Application
for	O
Windows	O
and	O
Quattro	B-Application
Pro	I-Application
for	I-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
a	O
closely	O
related	O
project	O
,	O
started	O
development	O
under	O
beta	O
versions	O
of	O
Windows	O
3.0	O
,	O
in	O
the	O
spring	O
of	O
1990	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paradox/Windows	O
ended	O
up	O
delayed	O
about	O
a	O
year	O
beyond	O
its	O
original	O
plan	O
,	O
shipping	O
in	O
early	O
1993	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
reasons	O
were	O
many	O
,	O
but	O
not	O
entirely	O
surprising	O
for	O
a	O
major	O
rewrite	O
,	O
in	O
an	O
OO	B-Language
language	I-Language
with	O
new	O
tools	O
,	O
shifting	O
to	O
a	O
GUI	O
paradigm	O
,	O
on	O
what	O
was	O
essentially	O
a	O
first	O
version	O
operating	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Still	O
it	O
was	O
a	O
big	O
problem	O
for	O
the	O
company	O
and	O
Microsoft	O
managed	O
to	O
ship	O
Access	O
a	O
couple	O
of	O
months	O
ahead	O
of	O
Paradox	B-Application
for	O
Windows	O
,	O
a	O
major	O
marketing	O
win	O
for	O
Microsoft	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1990	O
,	O
Borland	O
also	O
started	O
work	O
on	O
an	O
internal	O
dBASE	B-Application
clone	O
for	O
both	O
DOS	O
and	O
Windows	O
,	O
written	O
in	O
assembler	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
planned	O
to	O
ship	O
in	O
1992	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Part	O
of	O
the	O
Ashton-Tate	O
acquisition	O
was	O
the	O
InterBase	B-Application
rdbms	O
and	O
it	O
was	O
decided	O
that	O
Paradox/W	O
should	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
work	O
with	O
InterBase	B-Application
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
Paradox	B-Application
engine	O
,	O
and	O
this	O
led	O
to	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
an	O
IDAPI	O
engine	O
based	O
around	O
InterBase	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paradox	B-Application
had	O
historically	O
competed	O
against	O
dBASE	B-Application
in	O
some	O
markets	O
,	O
and	O
Paradox/W	O
originally	O
was	O
designed	O
to	O
improve	O
the	O
competitive	O
position	O
in	O
the	O
developer-oriented	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
dBASE	B-Application
was	O
acquired	O
,	O
this	O
was	O
no	O
longer	O
desirable	O
,	O
and	O
emphasis	O
shifted	O
toward	O
an	O
ease-of-use	B-General_Concept
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
's	O
first	O
desktop	O
database	O
program	O
,	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Access	I-Application
,	O
did	O
a	O
good	O
job	O
of	O
addressing	O
that	O
same	O
market	O
,	O
and	O
got	O
there	O
first	O
when	O
it	O
debuted	O
at	O
COMDEX	O
November	O
1992	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
response	O
to	O
Borland	O
's	O
acquisition	O
of	O
Ashton-Tate	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
acquired	O
FoxPro	B-Application
and	O
incorporated	O
its	O
Rushmore	O
technology	O
into	O
the	O
Access	O
Jet	O
Engine	O
to	O
significantly	O
improve	O
its	O
performance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	B-Application
Access	I-Application
offered	O
many	O
features	O
that	O
were	O
easier	O
for	O
end	O
users	O
and	O
developers	O
to	O
implement	O
,	O
including	O
a	O
more	O
intuitive	O
query	O
interface	O
using	O
Windows	O
links	O
between	O
fields	O
rather	O
than	O
the	O
Paradox	B-Application
text	O
tagging	O
of	O
fields	O
in	O
QBE	B-Application
,	O
and	O
the	O
Access	O
Basic	O
programming	O
language	O
which	O
was	O
more	O
similar	O
to	O
PAL	O
than	O
ObjectPAL	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Access	O
and	O
Paradox	B-Application
significantly	O
differed	O
in	O
the	O
way	O
they	O
presented	O
results	O
from	O
queries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paradox	B-Application
showed	O
the	O
results	O
only	O
after	O
all	O
the	O
records	O
were	O
retrieved	O
and	O
an	O
ANSWER	O
table	O
created	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
performance	O
difference	O
was	O
significant	O
for	O
large	O
datasets	O
and	O
negatively	O
impacted	O
Paradox/W	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Taking	O
a	O
cue	O
from	O
Borland	O
's	O
low	O
price	O
Quattro	B-Application
Pro	I-Application
spreadsheet	O
debut	O
against	O
Microsoft	O
Excel	O
,	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	B-Application
Access	I-Application
debuted	O
with	O
a	O
$99	O
price	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
undercut	O
the	O
traditional	O
DBMS	B-Application
prices	O
of	O
Paradox	B-Application
DOS	O
,	O
Paradox	B-Application
Windows	O
,	O
and	O
dBase	B-Application
of	O
around	O
$799	O
,	O
which	O
negatively	O
impacted	O
Borland	O
more	O
than	O
any	O
other	O
firm	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Borland	O
management	O
team	O
,	O
with	O
its	O
85%	O
market	O
share	O
of	O
the	O
desktop	O
database	O
market	O
,	O
severely	O
underestimated	O
the	O
threat	O
of	O
Microsoft	O
and	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Access	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Still	O
,	O
Paradox/W	O
sold	O
well	O
for	O
a	O
while	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
product	O
lines	O
were	O
discontinued	O
,	O
corporate	O
reorganization	O
and	O
consolidation	O
was	O
painful	O
,	O
and	O
,	O
even	O
worse	O
,	O
the	O
internal	O
dBASE	B-Application
project	O
at	O
the	O
center	O
of	O
the	O
acquisition	O
rationale	O
was	O
eventually	O
canceled	O
for	O
technical	O
reasons	O
,	O
leaving	O
Borland	O
with	O
a	O
collapse	O
in	O
revenues	O
and	O
a	O
serious	O
need	O
to	O
develop	O
the	O
missing	O
dBASE	B-Application
for	O
Windows	O
in	O
a	O
hurry	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paradox	B-Application
was	O
minimally	O
marketed	O
to	O
the	O
developers	O
since	O
the	O
company	O
decided	O
it	O
would	O
hold	O
out	O
for	O
a	O
replacement	O
of	O
dBASE	B-Application
,	O
which	O
eventually	O
came	O
out	O
in	O
1994	O
,	O
too	O
late	O
for	O
the	O
company	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
make	O
matters	O
worse	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
dBASE	B-Application
for	O
DOS	O
clone	O
(	O
FoxBase	O
)	O
copied	O
dBASE	B-Application
closely	O
,	O
the	O
Windows	O
version	O
of	O
this	O
product	O
was	O
developed	O
without	O
an	O
existing	O
dBASE	B-Application
for	O
Windows	O
model	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
dBASE	B-Application
for	O
DOS	O
's	O
strengths	O
was	O
multi-vendor	O
support	O
,	O
and	O
this	O
was	O
lost	O
in	O
the	O
various	O
Windows	O
xBase	B-Language
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Borland	O
's	O
Visual	O
dBASE	B-Application
for	O
Windows	O
could	O
n't	O
run	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
Foxbase	O
for	O
Windows	O
programs	O
and	O
vice	O
versa	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Faced	O
with	O
a	O
fragmented	O
market	O
and	O
the	O
need	O
to	O
rewrite	O
programs	O
to	O
take	O
advantage	O
of	O
Windows	O
,	O
there	O
was	O
little	O
incentive	O
for	O
xBase	B-Language
users	O
to	O
stay	O
loyal	O
to	O
the	O
brand	O
they	O
'd	O
used	O
for	O
DOS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1995	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
bundled	O
Access	O
into	O
their	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Office	I-Application
Professional	O
Suite	O
with	O
Word	O
,	O
Excel	O
,	O
and	O
PowerPoint	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
solid	O
follow-on	O
versions	O
with	O
improvements	O
to	O
usability	B-General_Concept
for	O
entry-level	O
users	O
,	O
Paradox	B-Application
faded	O
from	O
the	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
included	O
in	O
the	O
sale	O
of	O
Borland	O
products	O
to	O
WordPerfect	O
,	O
which	O
were	O
in	O
turn	O
resold	O
as	O
WordPerfect	O
got	O
into	O
financial	O
products	O
,	O
and	O
,	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
writing	O
,	O
Paradox	B-Application
for	O
Windows	O
,	O
WordPerfect	O
,	O
and	O
Quattro	B-Application
Pro	I-Application
for	I-Application
Windows	I-Application
are	O
all	O
owned	O
by	O
Corel	O
and	O
sold	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
their	O
office	O
suite	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
dBASE	B-Application
for	O
Windows	O
came	O
out	O
too	O
late	O
to	O
be	O
a	O
significant	O
player	O
in	O
the	O
Windows	O
market	O
:	O
most	O
dBASE	B-Application
programmers	O
by	O
then	O
had	O
migrated	O
to	O
Microsoft	O
FoxBASE	O
,	O
a	O
very	O
similar	O
database	O
tool	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Borland	O
itself	O
retained	O
the	O
InterBase/IDAPI	O
server	O
and	O
focused	O
efforts	O
on	O
its	O
Delphi	B-Language
tools	O
,	O
which	O
over	O
the	O
years	O
gave	O
it	O
an	O
influential	O
but	O
small	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
data-oriented	O
developer	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Corel	O
acquired	O
certain	O
rights	O
to	O
develop	O
and	O
market	O
Paradox	B-Application
in	O
the	O
mid-1990s	O
and	O
released	O
Corel	B-Application
Paradox	I-Application
8	O
in	O
1997	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paradox	B-Application
was	O
also	O
bundled	O
in	O
the	O
professional	O
version	O
of	O
Corel	O
's	O
WordPerfect	O
Office	O
suite	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
it	O
has	O
not	O
been	O
updated	O
since	O
2009	O
with	O
the	O
Paradox	B-Application
Hot	O
Fix	O
1	O
for	O
X4	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
a	O
strong	O
Paradox	B-Application
user	O
base	O
,	O
mainly	O
centered	O
on	O
the	O
and	O
its	O
associated	O
newsgroups	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
there	O
are	O
many	O
fans	O
of	O
ObjectPAL	B-Language
,	O
the	O
programming	O
language	O
for	O
Paradox/Windows	O
,	O
PAL/DOS	O
scripts	O
could	O
not	O
easily	O
be	O
migrated	O
;	O
the	O
object	O
and	O
event	O
models	O
were	O
completely	O
different	O
,	O
forcing	O
developers	O
using	O
PAL	O
to	O
completely	O
rewrite	O
their	O
database	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
