DOS Days

Borland International, Inc.

 

Turbo C

Turbo C was borne from an acquisition made by Borland Software Inc. of Wizard Systems in 1987. Borland had already been working on their C compiler, and portions of the Wizard C product were incorporated into it. The first version launched in May 1987. At this time, one of Borland's founder, Neils Jensen, left to form his own company, Jensen & Partners International (JPI), who would later rebrand themselves as "TopSpeed".

In January 1989, Turbo C 2.0 was the 7th highest-selling software package, behind Lotus 1-2-3 Release 2.01, Wordperfect 5.0, Quicken 2.0, PC Tools and Norton Utilities.

Turbo C++

In 1991, object-oriented programming became the new buzzword, and Borland jumped on the bandwagon early. On 19th November 1991, Turbo C++ for Windows 1.0 arrived, retailing for $149.95 (Microsoft's Quick C for Windows was already out and cost $199). As with earlier editions of Turbo C++, the new Windows version allowed you to write code in either C or C++. The package also included Borland's ObjectWindows libraries that helped simplify writing Windows applications, Borland's Resource Workshop tool for generating Windows resources, and EasyWin which converts Turbo C++ code into a Windows program with a basic Windows interface. Code written in Turbo C++ for Windows would also be compatible with Borland C++ 2.0 (their high-end product). Existing users of Turbo C++ for DOS could upgrade for the price of $89.95. The Windows development environment included an editor, compiler, linker, Make facility, and debugger all in one.

"Borland is aggressively asserting its leadership in the object-oriented fracas with three new versions of its popular C and C++ compilers. For low-cost Windows programming there is Turbo C++ 3.0 for Windows, a completely new product. Borland's Turbo C++ for Windows is comparable with Microsoft's recently released Quick C for Windows, although there are important differences that will be discussed below.

The second-tier product is Borland C++ 3.0, which is a major revision of Borland's 2.0 C++ compiler. Borland C++ 3.0 supports both DOS and Windows programming and includes Borland's new optimization technology.

The high end of Borland's C++ product line is Borland C++ 3.0 with Application Frameworks. This is Borland's C++ 3.0 product combined with its comprehensive class libraries.

All three of the above products include Borland's Resource Workshop, which is a Windows program that helps you create menus, dialog boxes, and other graphical elements for Windows. Resource Workshop has previously been available separately for $49.95 but will soon be phased out as a separate product. Also, all three compilers implement revision 2.1 of the C++ language. Thus all three are one step ahead of Turbo C++ for DOS, which implements only version 2.0 of the C++ spec and is due for an upgrade."     Info World, January 1992

 

Borland C++

In January 1995, Borland released C++ 2.0 for OS/2 for the full retail price of $499, or the upgrade version for $149.95.

"Borland C++ 2.0 for OS/2 provides developers with C and C++ compilers and tools for developing powerful 32-bit OS/2 Warp applications and contains ObjectWindows Library (OWL) for Presentation Manager, a version of the industry standard class library for OS/2's window environment. With OWL, developers can take applications written in 16- or 32-bit Windows and move them easily to OS/2 Warp.

Borland C++ 2.0 now allows C++ programmers to take full advantage of OWL, a full-featured cross-platform application framework that now supports both Windows and OS/2," said Paul Gross, Borland's vice president and general manager, Languages and Client/Server Business Unit. "Software programmers who develop for a variety of platforms can now easily port their OWL applications from Windows to OS/2.

With more that 700,000 copies sold in six weeks, OS/2 Warp is rapidly gaining momentum as a 32-bit operating system environment," said Jim Gant, IBM's vice president of Solution Developer Operations. "Borland C++ for OS/2, which now includes OWL, provides software developers with an easy pathway to develop OS/2 applications.

In addition to OWL, Borland C++ 2.0 for OS/2 includes other features that aid in application design. The Presentation Manager-hosted Integrated Development Environment (IDE) allows developers to edit, compile and debug OS/2 applications quickly; the Resource Workshop provides developers with additional tools such as bitmaps, icons, dialogs, and menus to visually create OS/2 resources; and the ObjectBrowser offers an easy-to-understand graphical display of application class hierarchies, including multiple inheritances. Borland C++ 2.0 also includes Turbo Debugger, Turbo Assembler, Runtime library source code, and OWL source code."