In late 1993, a very significant thing happened to me: I started a company. This company is now known as CODE Group. Back in 1993 CODE (or EPS, as it was called back then) was a one-man consulting organization. Consulting and custom application development is still at the heart of CODE Consulting today, although we now have other divisions and companies, such as CODE Training, CODE Magazine (obviously, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this article.), several non-developer oriented endeavors, and CODE Staffing. Our newest off-shoot, CODE Staffing, started in 2022 with the intention of disrupting the industry and fixing what we perceive as broken. Needless to say, it's been a long road that we now look back upon.
So, 1993! Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston topped the charts. The first Jurassic Park movie and Schindler's List were released that year. We were all watching Sleepless in Seattle and Free Willy. Bill Clinton was in office. NAFTA had just been signed. We walked around with Sony Walkman devices and a large two-topping pizza at Domino's was $9.99. In some ways it seems like yesterday, yet 1993 is as far removed from 2023 as it is from 1963, the year JFK was assassinated. My apologies for making everyone feel old. I know I do.
The Technological Landscape
As fun as it may be to wax philosophical about the time when everyone had a crush on Claudia Schiffer and Leonardo DiCaprio, most of us geeks directed our affection towards the hot tech of the day. The early 90s were a time when the Internet was on the horizon, but most “normal” people hadn't heard of it yet. Most people still operated DOS-based computers at work, and whether or not Graphical Unser Interfaces (GUIs) would ever become serious contenders in the business landscape was a topic of heated debate. I fell on the side of the believers and powered through the rougher parts of using Windows 3.1 (Figure 1), impatiently waiting for Windows 3.11 for Workgroups.
Most people used IBM PCs to run their copy of DOS or Windows on (Figure 2). If you were on the forefront of technology, you may have been the proud owner of an Intel 486 with a whooping 4MB of RAM and a 100MB hard disk. Those 3 1/2 inch floppy disks were in heavy use, although 5 1/4 inch systems were still common. CD-ROM drives were all the rage, enabling great advances in gaming and multi-media experiences. The PC had established itself as a gaming powerhouse and the classic game Myst (Figure 3) was the hottest game of the year, selling about 200,000 copies in 1993 (and a total of two million copies over the years).
Operating Systems were a hotly contested market in 1993. MS-DOS was getting long in the tooth, but many businesses were still doubting that Graphical User Interfaces with - gasp! - multi-tasking were of any importance to users. Nevertheless, Apple Computer sued Microsoft over their supposed IP infringement of creating a graphical user interface in Windows. It took them four years to resolve this lawsuit in which it was ruled that Apple couldn't get patent-like protection for the ideas of GUIs, but it was decided that both Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard (HP) infringed on Apple's right to the trash can icon. Apple and Microsoft later entered into a cross-licensing agreement, which allowed Microsoft to use certain parts of Apple's GUI in Windows.
Windows 3.1, and especially Windows 3.11 for Workgroups, were the first versions of Windows with mass market significance, especially for business applications. Soon thereafter, Microsoft followed up with Windows NT (Figure 4), arguably the first truly enterprise-quality Microsoft operating system. Windows NT was designed to be more secure and powerful. It ran applications natively on 32-bit processors. Windows NT supported true multitasking, multithreading, memory protection, virtual memory, networking, security, and more. It was a huge step forward, with many concepts that we still enjoy today.
There were several other players jockeying for market dominance. UNIX and Linux were operating systems that few regular users had ever heard of. However, IBM had their version of DOS (although also built by Microsoft) as well as OS/2 (ironically also developed by Microsoft for IBM). Although OS/2 was arguably technically superior, it still never managed to out-compete Windows. Why that is the case is an area of debate. IBM accused Microsoft of dirty tricks. Others say IBM didn't miss any opportunities for marketing blunders. The truth probably lies somewhere in between. Whatever the true story might be, the entire partnership between Microsoft and IBM is the stuff of computer lore and could (and does) fill entire books.
In the end, IBM lost the operating system battle and ceased being a factor in that market. The same can be said for Novell, formerly a behemoth in the network operating system market. The rivalry between Microsoft and Novell was one of the most bitter in the history of the personal computer industry. Novell's NetWare operating system was the first network operating system that was easy to use and install for non-technical users, and it quickly became popular in small and medium businesses. NetWare had a market share of over 70% by 1990. Microsoft saw NetWare as a threat to its Windows franchise, and wanted to offer a more powerful and integrated solution that could run both graphical and text-based applications, as well as support multiple hardware platforms and network protocols. Windows NT was designed to be a “super-operating system” that could handle both desktop and server functions and compete with UNIX systems in the high-end market.
Developing Windows NT proved to be a daunting task, and Microsoft faced many technical and legal challenges along the way. One of the biggest obstacles was how to make Windows NT compatible with NetWare, which had a large and loyal customer base. Microsoft wanted to persuade NetWare users to switch to Windows NT, but also wanted to avoid antitrust scrutiny from the regulators who were already investigating its business practices.
To achieve this delicate balance, Microsoft tried to negotiate with Novell several times, even proposing a merger at one point. However, Novell's CEO Ray Noorda rejected Microsoft's advances, fearing that Microsoft would dominate the PC software industry and stifle innovation. Noorda also accused Microsoft of using unfair tactics to undermine NetWare's market position, such as bundling its own networking software with Windows, spreading FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) about NetWare's future, and withholding technical information from Novell.
Novell decided to fight back by cooperating with the antitrust authorities in the U.S. and Europe, and by launching its own lawsuits against Microsoft. Novell also tried to diversify its product portfolio by acquiring other software companies, such as WordPerfect and Quattro Pro, to compete with Microsoft's Office suite. These moves proved to be costly and ineffective, as Novell failed to integrate its acquisitions and lost focus on its core business.
The battle between Microsoft and Novell lasted for more than a decade, and, ultimately, Microsoft emerged as the winner. Windows NT gradually gained market share and became the dominant network operating system in the mid-1990s, while NetWare declined and lost relevance. Microsoft also successfully defended itself against the antitrust charges, while Novell suffered financial losses and layoffs.
In the end, Microsoft came away as the dominant victor of the operating system battles, which was also due to Microsoft's strong partnership with Intel and the focus on Intel's processor hardware. The Intel 486 processor family was soon to be superseded by the first Pentium chip. This branding choice resulted from the fact that Intel discovered that numbers such as 386 and 486 could not be trademarked, hence the 586 processor never saw the light of day as Intel took inspiration from the Greek word for five, pente, to create the legal trademark Pentium.
Software Development
It's fair to say that software development in 1993 underwent a lot of change. This may be a somewhat anti-climatic statement in the software industry that one might say is a ground-truth for developers in any given year. However, the early 90s are when software developers started to make the move from DOS-based systems with character-based interfaces to graphical user interfaces, multi-tasking, and (comparatively) seamless exchange of data between applications.
A stalwart of development in the Windows world was C++. Microsoft released Visual C++ 1.0 in 1993. For me, this was my first exposure to a Microsoft event. I went to the Visual C++ launch and sat in awe as I watched the presentation up on a large stage. At the end of the event, it was revealed that the entire stage was built out of Visual C++ product boxes. Every attendee got one. I do not recall the exact dimensions and weight of the box, but it was the size of a typical product box of the day, except the better part of two-feet deep, with a dozen printed manuals, a stack of 3 ½ inch floppy disks. I remember distinctly how heavy it was, as I had travelled to the event by train and had to shlepp the thing back home. As there was only standing room in the train, I ended up sitting on the product box the entire way.
But not everyone used C++, which, it has to be said, wasn't for the faint of heart. Other development environments, such as Visual Basic 3.0 and (Visual) FoxPro (Figure 6) were very popular, although DOS-based development systems, such as FoxPro 2.x were still going strong (Figure 7). There was also a lot of competition in the compiler market. Although Microsoft had cemented its position in the xBase market segment with the acquisition of Fox Software, Borland put up a good fight with offerings such as Clipper (its xBase entry), Borland C++ 3.1, and Turbo Pascal. Borland's merger with Ashton-Tate in 1991 made it the owner of the original dBase brand. (Borland also released Visual dBase in 1997 but too late to the market to have much of an impact.)
Both Microsoft and Borland had very strong offerings for the time, arguably with Borland being initially stronger technically, but Microsoft having the leg up in terms of overall integration, long-term vision, and marketing. I remember Visual FoxPro (VFP) very fondly. I'd been a long-time user of VFP, worked for the Microsoft Visual FoxPro team as a vendor in the mid-to-late 90s, and really enjoyed the object-oriented nature VFP brought to the mainstream. It was a far better product than Visual Basic. Many of the core ideas of Visual FoxPro can still be seen today in the .NET platform and framework.
As had been the case so often, in the end, Microsoft emerged victorious over Borland, and - as is the case with Novell - many developers today hardly recognize the name. But Borland had a significant influence on the software development market. Borland's rivalry with Microsoft was so strong it resulted in a lawsuit by Borland against Microsoft in October of 1992, alleging that Microsoft had hired away several of its key employees, including Anders Hejlsberg, the chief architect of Turbo Pascal and Delphi, and had used their trade secrets to develop Visual Basic and Visual C++. Borland sought damages and an injunction to stop Microsoft from selling its products. The lawsuit was settled, and the terms were not disclosed. Today, Anders Hejlsberg still works at Microsoft as a Technical Fellow, one of the key heroes in the Microsoft developer universe. He's seen as the father of C# and TypeScript, both languages he developed (and is still developing) as part of the Visual Studio and .NET teams.
Visual Basic deserves special mention here, as its impact on software development can't be overstated. Originally thought of by many developers as a development environment for non-developers, it set the stage for the paradigm of developing with designers, rather than just source code. Although development in 2023 may still be dealing with a lot of low-level code editing, design tools are an important part of every developer's tool-belt. Whether it's the first visual UI editor in VB1, or the latest prompt flow designer in an AI tool today, these tools share many of the same ideas to make developers more productive. In 1993, Visual Basic's newest version was Visual Basic 3.0 (Figure 8).
Learning software development was no easy feat in 1993. Although we're used to searching the internet or Stack Overflow today, or perhaps even asking an AI or a Copilot to help us with our development tasks, information wasn't as readily available in the early 90s. The Internet as we know it today wasn't available yet. Bulletin Board Systems (BBSes) were hard to use and small in scope. The best online resource was CompuServe, with its many forums that provided answers to many questions. It was expensive and cumbersome. Dialup through long distance ran up some serious phone bills, which many tried to avoid through the use of offline readers such as OzCIS. I was extremely active on CompuServe and still remember my login ID to this day: 100337,1062. That's right kids! Usernames and email addresses had not been invented yet. Now get off my lawn!
Although that may be an exaggeration, it was a different time. Nevertheless, CompuServe shaped some things that we still take for granted today. It was arguably the first meaningful global online community for professional software developers. What few developers know today: CompuServe is where Microsoft's popular MVP program had its origin. An extremely influential developer and later a key Microsoft employee in the Visual Studio team, Calvin Hsia, compiled a list of the most active participants in CompuServe's FoxForum (yes, it originated with FoxPro). The top contributors on “Calvin's List” were the MVPs, the Most Valuable Professionals. Eventually Microsoft ran with the idea and the MVP program continues to this day. It now covers practically all Microsoft technologies and more than 4,000 people have been recognized with Microsoft's MVP Award in 2023. I'm proud to say that I was first named an MVP in 1995 as the first non-U.S.-born MVP, the highlight of my career as a software developer up to that point. I received the MVP award for 25 consecutive years, and I'm proud that to this day, I'm active in the Microsoft MVP and RD (Regional Director) communities.
Even so, most developers didn't learn online. Instead, books and magazines played an extremely important role. Thousands of developer books were published in the 90s, including some that current CODE employees were active authors (and editors) of (Figure 9). The market for professional software developer magazines was very healthy. Each month, I eagerly awaited the arrival of my next issue of Microsoft Systems Journal or Dr. Dobb's Magazine. Advisor Publications had a wide range of magazines, such as FoxPro Advisor and many more. Magazines were by far the most up-to-date source of all kinds of information related to programming.
At the time, we couldn't have dreamt of launching our own publication, even less that we would end up as the lone developer magazine still being published in 2023, 25 years later. And with the support of our readers, we are looking forward to many more years of publication!
