[dba-Tech] Emerald Bay and Access

For those youngsters in the group, a couple of guys (C. Wayne Ratliff and
Jeb Long) were the principal architects and developers behind dBASE II and
beyond. Ratliff left Ashton-Tate after dBASE III, IIRC, and Jeb took over
and did dBASE IV.) Wayne went on to write a database and language called
Emerald Bay.
A knowledgeable friend of mine claims that Microsoft purchased the core
technology to Emerald Bay and rolled it into Access. For several reasons, I
dispute this claim. First of all, EB was at heart a client-server system.
Second, lots of Google-searches have yielded not a shred of evidence
supporting this theory. Third, I think that my friend may be confusing the
acquisition of FoxPro with his alleged acquisition of EB. The FoxPro
Rushmore technology was rolled into Access: this is well-known.
As Jack Web (Dragnet) used to say, "Just the facts, ma'am". My friend claims
to have seen evidence for his theory by visiting various MDBs and the Access
executable itself with a hex editor. I haven't used a hex editor since the
days of DOS, and besides that I have grown old and slow and wouldn't know
where to begin the search to verify or refute my friend's claim.
I have no axe to grind here. In fact, I think that I was the first person to
land an interview with Wayne. The cover of that issue of "Data-Based
Advisor" read "Ratliff Talks!" LOL. Hardly up to the standard of Woodward
and Bernstein, admittedly, but I did get the interview and learned much
about the early history of dBASE-II and beyond. It would please me if my
friend were correct, and that Wayne did sell Emerald Bay code to MS, and
that some of that code lives still in Access.
But for the aforementioned reasons, it just doesn't make sense to me.
So, questions:
1. Does anyone have any info on this purported sale of Emerald Bay code to
MS, and subsequent use thereof?
2. Can anyone recommend a free hex editor that is Windows-XP compliant? (I
don't mind buying software, but in this case I have only one use for it.)
Apologies for the long ramble.
Arthur