Borland Steers by the HP Dashboard

November 1994

While you probably weren't watching, HP managed to sell more than 1 million copies of Dashboard, their software for organizing Windows desktops. The product has received good reviews and is available in five languages, but Hewlett-Packard has lots on its plate and personal computer utility software wasn't a high priority. In the last 12 months, Dashboard had all but disappeared from view.

Borland has seen its Sidekick product, newly (and nicely) rewritten for Windows, receiving good success in the channel. They're looking to establish Borland as a brand for utility software and Dashboard looked like just the ticket.

While Dashboard is viewed as a product that allows power users to customize their desktops to fit their precise needs (so it's about flexibility), Borland views the product as being all about simplifying user life. They think its particularly appealing because of its strength in application launching, an area where Windows could use some help.

Borland also is thinking about the possibility of offering utilities, with Dashboard as their launchpad and will offer an SDK to let users write and add utilities of their own.

Borland expects Dashboard for Windows to be in the channel under the Borland label by mid-November at a street price of about $40. That should make it an excellent companion for Sidekick. We expect more family members to follow.

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