SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549




                                    FORM 8-K

                                 Current Report
                       Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
                       the Securities Exchange Act of 1934


       Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): January 11, 1999







                               Tridex Corporation
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)



       Connecticut                    1-5513                     06-0682273
(State or other jurisdiction     (Commission File             (I.R.S. Employer
    of incorporation)                 Number)                Identification No.)



               61 Wilton Road, Westport, CT                        06880
         (Address of principal executive offices                (Zip Code)



                                 (203) 226-1144
              (Registrant's telephone number, including area code)






Item 5.  Other Event

     On February 3, 1999, Tridex Corporation  ("Tridex") announced that it is in
litigation with Paul J. Smith, who sold Progressive Software,  Inc. to Tridex in
April  1998,  and with whom  Tridex has been  negotiating  for a purchase  price
reduction.  Tridex's agent for service of legal papers  received  service of the
summons and complaint on or about January 11, 1999, and Tridex  received them on
or about January 19, 1999. A copy of the press release regarding the litigation,
filed as Exhibit 99 to this report, is incorporated herein by reference.






                                    Exhibits


99 Press Release dated February 3, 1999






                                   SIGNATURES


     Pursuant to the  requirements  of the Securities  Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant  has duly  caused  this  report  to be  signed  on its  behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

                                      TRIDEX CORPORATION




Date:  February 8, 1999               By:  Daniel A. Bergeron
                                      Daniel A. Bergeron
                                      Vice President and Chief Financial Officer





                                                                      Exhibit 99


                     Text of February 3, 1999 News Release:

             TRIDEX CORPORATION RESPONDS TO PAUL J. SMITH LITIGATION

Westport,  CT - February 3, 1999 - On April 17, 1998 Tridex Corporation  (Nasdaq
National Market:  TRDX) ("Tridex")  acquired all of the outstanding common stock
of Progressive  Software,  Inc.  ("Progressive")  from Paul J. Smith for a total
purchase  price of $48 million,  consisting of  $43,113,000  in cash and 714,000
shares of Tridex common stock. In June 1998,  after an audit of the closing date
balance sheet,  Mr. Smith agreed to reduce the purchase  price by  approximately
$2.4  million in cash,  which was  returned to Tridex.  Since then,  Tridex made
claims for a further  reduction based on information  developed in the third and
fourth quarters.

     At the April 1998 closing,  Tridex granted Mr. Smith registration rights in
connection with the 714,000 shares,  and Mr. Smith agreed to execute and deliver
a federal tax form needed by Tridex to obtain  favorable  tax  treatment  of the
purchase.  Tridex  made  repeated  requests  for  the tax  form,  but it was not
delivered  until January.  Mr. Smith requested  registration of his shares,  and
Tridex  commenced  preparation  of a registration  statement,  but postponed its
completion while waiting for Mr. Smith to sign the tax form.

     During the last three months of 1998, counsel for Tridex met with and wrote
to  counsel  for  Mr.  Smith,  stating  that  Tridex  was  preparing  to  pursue
arbitration  and other legal  remedies  against him. On January 5, 1999,  Tridex
finally  received  the signed form.  On January 4, 1999,  Mr. Smith filed a suit
against Tridex and  Progressive in the Federal  District Court in North Carolina
and served the papers at a later date. The suit seeks damages plus a court order
requiring Tridex to register the shares of its common stock issued to Mr. Smith.
The suit also seeks a declaratory judgment to prevent Tridex from pursuing other
claims which it has asserted against Mr. Smith in post-closing  negotiations and
which are the subject of its investigation.  Tridex intends to vigorously defend
the suit  initiated by Mr. Smith and to press its own claims  against him in all
appropriate forums.

     Tridex,   through  its   Progressive   Software  and  Ultimate   Technology
subsidiaries,  is a leading provider of POS and back office enterprise  resource
management  software,  systems  integration  and related  services  for the food
service and specialty retail markets. In 1996 Progressive received the Microsoft
Retail  Application  Developer  (RAD)  Award for its back  office  food  service
software.  Tridex's key customers  are  Starbucks,  McDonald's,  Steak n' Shake,
Golden Corral, Lowe's Home Center, Ace Hardware, ARCO and Shoney's.  Progressive
and Ultimate  have sold more than  115,000  units in North  America,  Europe and
Asia.

     The statements contained in this release which are not historical facts may
be deemed to contain  forward-looking  statements  with  respect to events,  the
occurrence  of  which  involve  risks  and  uncertainties,   including,  without
limitation,  the  results of  operations  and other  uncertainties  detailed  in
Tridex's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.