MainView was created in 1990 by Boole & Babbage as office automation software, designed specifically to work on IBM hardware.
[4] The system gained popularity with users being pleased with its real-time data however expressed dissatisfaction with its usage of counterfactual history to make decisions.
[5] In 1998, following BMC Software's purchase of Boole & Babbage, they announced that they would continue to operate MainView by directly integrating it with their IBM hardware products rather than continuing to sell it as specifically as a separate software product.
[7] In 1993, Boole & Babbage signed a deal with Paramount Pictures to license Star Trek for use in their advertising.
They produced a short advertising film titled "The Vision", which included Star Trek: The Next Generation's Commander William Riker (played by Jonathan Frakes, with whom B&B also signed a spokesman's deal) using MainView on the bridge of the USS Enterprise to promote MainView.