BORLAND International last week took the wraps off the long-awaited Windows version of its Paradox database - with introductory pricing which all but declares war on the Microsoft Access database product launched last November.
Borland will sell Paradox for Windows for $1,100 until the end of April. This is a direct response to the aggressive $1,000 Microsoft attached to its Access product at introduction - an offer which expired at the end of January but which Microsoft has since extended till March 31.
Both companies are racing to grab as large a slice of the Windows database market as quickly as possible. It is a scramble for customers in the lead-up to the introduction of a Windows version of the dominant personal computer database, dBase IV.
Perhaps ironically, Borland is in a race with itself; it also owns the dBase product, a result of its acquisition of Ashton-Tate.
The company has promised a Windows version of dBase sometime this year - built ''from the ground'' up for the Windows environment - but is reluctant to say precisely when it will hit the streets.
All of this, of course, is good news for PC users. The fiercer the competition in the database market, the lower prices will fall.
Borland Asia managing director Mr Paul Yan hinted last week the company may extend the introductory-pricing schedule beyond the April 30 deadline (but watch developments carefully).
