In what appears to be a catch-up tactic, Computer Associates International Inc has launched a 32-bit version of its application development program, Visual Objects. The Islandia, New York-based company says the tool stands out from its competitors due to the business capabilities of its enhanced Xbase language. Visual Objects 2.0 took nearly a year to develop, and is aimed at professional developers in small office environments or departments. Running on Windows 95 and NT 4.0, it includes a set of libraries for GUI programming, OLE and database management. CA has added proprietary object extensions to the Xbase language, and added support for Win32 common controls, long filenames, and the long awaited addition of an edit undo-redo function. The 32-bit support, of course, is very late compared with competitive products from Microsoft, Powersoft and Borland. There are two versions available at present, the standard edition priced at $125 and the professional edition at $350, which includes ODBC drivers, an SQL library, CA-OpenIngres Desktop and a 32-bit report writer, and CA has a software developers kit waiting in the wings.
