Future of PowerBASIC

[Jim Bailey]

I have had many inquiries as to the future of PowerBASIC. As it stands right now, support, sales, and development are continuing. Bob Zale has made specific instructions should they be needed regarding the future of PowerBASIC.

With that being said, PowerBASIC will not go into the abyss. Many of our employees are devoted and committed to keeping the Bob Zale legacy going. We (I mean our development department) still have many new features to implement for the next version.

In short, there is no reason to worry about any support or sales questions, even new improved versions.

I hope I answered all question related to this topic. I do not fear the end of my job, as all should not be concerned with the future of PB.

I welcome your comments, and will try to answer all your questions.

Sincerely,

[Mel Bishop]

As it stands right now, support, sales, and development are continuing.

Glad to hear that.

If I may interject a suggestion, name your 'nix release BZbasic. Just a thought.

[George Bleck]

Originally Posted by Mel Bishop

name your 'nix release BZbasic

Motion seconded.

[Eric Pearson]

Zalic

[Arthur Gomide]

Was BZbasic until Nov/06

[Brad D Byrne]

I've always liked just simply ... "Z"

[Chris Boss]

PowerBasic 11, Z Edition !

[Chris Holbrook]

Originally Posted by Jim Bailey

Many of our employees are devoted and committed to keeping the Bob Zale legacy going. We (I mean our development department) still have many new features to implement for the next version.

Jim, who is now in control of PowerBASIC Inc, and what are its current business goals?

[Jim Bailey]

Originally Posted by Chris Holbrook

Jim, who is now in control of PowerBASIC Inc, and what are its current business goals?

Chris,

All research and development, sales, and tech support continue under the direction of Bob's wife. The business goals stay as they were - to continue to create quality compilers. R&D has MANY, MANY ideas from Bob to implement, and I do not foresee the demise of PowerBASIC at all.

I hope this answers your question, if you need more of an explanation, please email jim@powerbasic.com

Thanks,

[Rodney Hicks]

All research and development, sales, and tech support continue under the direction of Bob's wife.

Jim- Thank you for this, for it implies the old adage- 'the more things change, the more they stay the same.'
And I thank Chris for asking the question, it was on many minds, I'm sure.

As for a name change in memory of Bob, may I suggest that the PBWin be changed to ZALE for the next release, invoking a new name in programming languages. Bob took Basic and turned it into something much more than Basic.

[Chris Holbrook]

Thanks Jim. I wish Mrs Zale every success.

[Chris Boss]

In all seriousness, the name PowerBasic was likely Bob's idea and I doubt he would like to see a name change if he were still here today.

It would be nice though to have something included in PB 11 as a remembrance of him. Maybe some info included in the help file about Bob and the things he accomplished over the years with his software. Maybe some nice photos of him and his staff over the years. It is definitely true that PowerBasic would not be what it is today without Bob.

While I can't say I knew Bob very well, I at least had the privilege of having a really nice conversation with him on the phone once. When I was preparing an article for Tech Republic (computer magazine online) about PowerBasic with an interview with Bob in it, he phoned me one day and we talked about a number of things. We even talked about stuff like Windows 8 and the WinRT.

I can tell you one thing, he was definitely thinking about the future for Powerbasic.

[Knuth Konrad]

Thanks for taking the time to post this info, Jim. Much appreciated.

[Barry Erick]

Originally Posted by Chris Boss

In all seriousness, the name PowerBasic was likely Bob's idea and I doubt he would like to see a name change if he were still here today.

It would be nice though to have something included in PB 11 as a remembrance of him. Maybe some info included in the help file about Bob and the things he accomplished over the years with his software. Maybe some nice photos of him and his staff over the years. It is definitely true that PowerBasic would not be what it is today without Bob.

While I can't say I knew Bob very well, I at least had the privilege of having a really nice conversation with him on the phone once. When I was preparing an article for Tech Republic (computer magazine online) about PowerBasic with an interview with Bob in it, he phoned me one day and we talked about a number of things. We even talked about stuff like Windows 8 and the WinRT.

I can tell you one thing, he was definitely thinking about the future for Powerbasic.

This is how it was related to me by Bob and Matt Pietrek. First, from Bob. The first PB product was about to be released by Borland as the second Turbo Basic and was a complete rewrite from the first. The first one was interrupt driven and the second was not. (The c team at Borland did support for Turbo Basic after Borland dropped it, one Saturday per month and were astounded (their words) by the speed and compactness of the compiled code.) After Turbo Basic, Matt and Bob were in Bob's kitchen trying to name the product and Matt came up with the name PowerBASIC. Bob liked it and PowerBASIC for DOS was the name released shortly after by Spectra. Spectra also marked PowerBASIC for Atari (and I do not recall the name of the Atari product even though I have (or had one) for beta testing the PB product.

Matt was assigned at Borland to disassemble and write up the routines in WIndows 3.0, and once done, Borland knew how to write windows programs and Matt's boooks were published. Matt was and is a very interesting guy to talk to... something like Probie on NCIS.

[Richard Angell]

I agree with Chris, the Help file could have a special section about the History and Philosophy of PowerBASIC. There could be a well written history of Bob and PowerBASIC, and the expression of his principals for the product. I know I have explained these things to many over the years that asked. It could be one of the best remembrances of Bob's great contributions to the programming world with a language that truly is powerful, works without compromise and has remained affordable.

Also, the About page on the PB website, could provide the same remembrance of Bob.