On March 26, 1999, Interactive Image Technologies Ltd. announced it would take the name Electronics Workbench and acquire Ultimate Technology, a Dutch PCB-design software company. The move did more than rename a company: it made Electronics Workbench an umbrella brand for a broader design-tool portfolio, linking circuit capture and simulation with board layout and routing.
Three changes behind the announcement
EDN’s March 26, 1999 report described three related moves: Interactive Image Technologies adopted Electronics Workbench as its corporate name; Electronics Workbench became the umbrella name for a product family rather than just one application; and the company announced its acquisition of Ultimate Technology. The deal expanded the portfolio from schematic capture and circuit simulation into printed-circuit-board design. EDN’s contemporary report is the source for the announcement and the company’s stated plans.
How the product family was organized
The announced lineup mapped products to stages in an electronics design workflow:
| Product or name | Role in the 1999 announcement |
|---|---|
| Electronics Workbench | New corporate identity and umbrella product-line brand, no longer meant to identify only one application. |
| Multisim | Planned new name for EWB Schematic Capture and Simulation, covering analog and mixed-signal simulation. |
| Ultiboard | PCB layout software previously sold under the OEM-oriented name EWB Layout. |
| Ultiroute | Automatic PCB routing software, positioned by the company as a competitor to Cadence Specctra. |
The report said the simulation product was expected to adopt the Multisim name in June 1999. That was a schedule announced at the time, not proof in the report that the change happened on that exact date. It also said HDL digital simulation was planned. EDN
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What Ultimate Technology added
Ultimate Technology was headquartered near Amsterdam and had 23 employees, most of them engineers, according to EDN. Its PCB-CAD capabilities complemented Electronics Workbench’s schematic and simulation tools. The intended flow was to capture a circuit, simulate its behavior, lay out a board, and route its connections within a more integrated product family.
The companies already had an OEM relationship: Electronics Workbench sold Ultimate’s layout software as EWB Layout. EDN reported that Ultimate had struggled to gain a foothold in the United States independently, while the OEM arrangement helped it gain traction. The deal therefore offered Electronics Workbench board-design technology and gave Ultimate a stronger route to U.S. customers. CEO Bill Wignall presented the combination as a strategic fit in the contemporary report; that rationale should be understood as the company’s account, not an independently measured outcome.
The purchase price was not disclosed precisely. EDN reported that it was described as a multi-million-dollar deal below $10 million. EDN’s report
Users and prices reported in 1999
EDN described the existing schematic-and-simulation product as having about 110,000 users worldwide and as especially popular in education. It also relayed the company’s claim that the tool was the world’s highest-volume EDA product; that was a company claim, not an independently verified ranking.
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The same report gave approximate prices at the time. These are historical 1999 figures, not current prices or a basis for comparing present-day products:
| Product or edition | Approximate 1999 price reported by EDN |
|---|---|
| EWB Schematic Capture and Simulation Personal Edition | Below $500 |
| EWB Schematic Capture and Simulation Professional Edition | About $1,000 |
| EWB Schematic Capture and Simulation Power Professional Edition | About $3,000 |
| Ultiroute Personal Edition | $399 |
| Ultiroute Professional Edition | $995; included autoplacement |
EDN’s 1999 report does not establish present-day prices, edition availability, or purchasing terms.
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Ultiroute’s technical distinction
Rather than describing Ultiroute as a generic autorouter, the report highlighted its combination of routing methods. It could use conventional grid-based routing for speed, then switch to gridless, shape-based routing where board density made that approach necessary. Electronics Workbench positioned Ultiroute against Cadence Specctra; the report did not provide an independent performance comparison. EDN
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How the brand continued under National Instruments
The 1999 acquisition was of Ultimate Technology, not National Instruments. NI’s later history is a separate chapter: an NI Community employee response identifies February 2005 as the month NI acquired Electronics Workbench, and a 2007 community post discusses integration of the Electronics Workbench group into NI. These dates are supported here by community material rather than a formal acquisition announcement. NI Community response · NI Community post
NI later used the Circuit Design Suite name for a collection that included NI Multisim, NI Ultiboard, and the NI Multisim MCU Module. The version 10 release notes document that product composition, while an NI Community post says the Circuit Design Suite branding began with version 10.0. Multisim and Ultiboard remained the component-product names. NI version 10 release notes · NI Community explanation
NI support material also preserves the distinction between legacy EWB releases and later licensing systems. Its activation guidance covers EWB/Multisim versions 6 through 9, including older release-code procedures; separate guidance addresses volume licensing and limitations for older network-license arrangements. These pages document legacy support processes, not current product availability or a recommendation to use those releases. NI legacy activation guidance · NI volume licensing guidance
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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
