Andrew wrote:

> http://info.borland.com/about/press/1999/inprise_ms.html
>
> A few questions:
>
> 1) Did Microsoft's $125-million investment (June 1999) have anything
> to do with Borland divesting itself of Interbase?
>

Probably not directly. The InterBase debacle was a bean counter thing.
Just making a profit wasn't considered good enough.

> 2) Did the investment have anything to do with Bill Karwin, Paul
> Beach and Wayne Ostiguy's resignations in December 1999?
>

Ditto.

> 3) Did "the right to use Inprise-patented technology in MS products"
> include Interbase in any way, shape, or form?
>

Possibly, but unlikely. I believe the case was more about things like
IDE's and the fact that many ex-Borland employees were working for
Microsoft. I don't think this included anyone from the InterBase
division (at least, I never heard of anything.)

> Not to dredge up a painful period, but damned if I'm not curious
> about how all the snippets in Claudio's 'Interbase Roadmap' fit
> together...
>

It is a long story. I think most (if not all) of those involved have
left it behind now. But the M$ angle did not feature prominently in it
(as far as I recall).

If you search on the IBP and Firebird sites there are articles by Helen
and myself which document the story a bit better.


Paul
--

Paul Reeves
http://www.ibphoenix.com
Supporting users of Firebird and InterBase