Corel Database Engine 4, released in the mid-90s, was the behind-the-scenes workhorse that powered apps like Corel Paradox and WordPerfect Office for managing small to mid-sized databases on Windows 3.1 and early Windows 95 setups. It was basically Corel’s spin on the Borland Database Engine (BDE), letting users handle dBASE, Paradox, and other file-based databases without jumping to expensive client-server systems. Version 4 came with better Windows integration, faster indexing, and fewer crashes than its v3 predecessors, making it the backbone for a lot of office workflows before Access and SQL Server started eating its lunch. If you ever ran a Paradox report in ’96, there’s a good chance CDE 4 was quietly doing the heavy lifting in the background.