Re: WINGZ, how good?

Axel Koerv writes: |> I think this has a lot to do with history: Informix originally was a pure |> UNIX database developer, but they decided to get into the desktop market and |> bought a firm (I don't remember its name) which was very successful with |> SmartWare. The same firm, now integrated in Informix, developed WingZ, but, |> unfortunately, Informix saw better chances in the UNIX market. I was at |> Informix in 1991 (porting a german version of WingZ to SCO UNIX) and there |> were rumours of a new version (2.0) to be released in early 1992. Now we are |> in the 4th quarter of 93 and I don't see any anouncements for WingZ 2.0, |> STORM or any other desktop product from Informix. I think the WingZ team in |> Kansas City was too far off from Silicon valley (where Informix headquarters |> are) to keep themselves in mind of the bosses...so we have to go with Excel, |> Quattro etc :-((. Alas, half-truths are the most dangerous lies of all. Let's clarify some of the above, shall we? 1. Informix did not buy Innovative Software (makers of Smartware, etc.). It was a merger of two companies. The primary reason that the combined result had the name Informix was that the Informix stock had the better standing at the time. 2. I'm not sure what you mean by "unfortunately, Informix saw better chances in the Unix market." We have always been a strong player in the Unix market. In addition, though, we are players in the Windows market, and the Netware market. I can't comment on our place in the MacIntosh arena, as I haven't heard anything definitive on that. 3. WingZ 2.0 will not be released as an independent product, but it has been incorporated into the HyperScript Tools product (currently available on MS Windows) as a worksheet tool. 4. What was called STORM (an internal code name) has been released as the product called ViewPoint (also currently available on MS Windows). There is also a DBA-level tool called INFORMIX-DBA which is a gui schema-builder (actually a superset of ViewPoint, which is primarily an access tool). 5. Lenexa's distance from Menlo Park has no bearing on the attention paid to the products developed there. The driving force here is deciding where we want to go as a company and then deciding what products support that direction. While some of the products developed in Lenexa have been "left behind" (SmartWare for example, which was sold to another party), others have received full and enthusiastic support of "the bosses" (HST, ViewPoint, and DBA for example). Dave Disclaimer: These opinions are not those of Informix Software, Inc. ************************************************************************** "I look back with some satisfaction on what an idiot I was when I was 25, but when I do that, I'm assuming I'm no longer an idiot." - Andy Rooney