Ashton-Tate
More info
- Creator
- George Tate, Hal Lashlee
- Released
- 1980–1991
- Successor
- Acquired by Borland
The software house behind dBASE, the database every PC office of the 1980s learned to drive with dot commands.
George Tate and Hal Lashlee founded the company in 1980 and shipped dBASE II the same year — there was never a dBASE I; the "II" just sounded more mature. It became the standard database first on CP/M and then on DOS, carrying its own programming language in which you wrote reports and forms rather than raw SQL. "Ashton," company lore holds, was pure marketing; no Ashton ever existed.
dBASE III and III Plus cemented the lead, but dBASE IV (1988) arrived late and buggy. FoxPro and Paradox took share, and in 1991 Ashton-Tate was bought by Borland — which then lost its own grip on the database market.