Re: Win95

[mpriestley -at- VNET -dot- IBM -dot- COM]

Rick Waugh writes:
>Except that IBM has as much as admitted that OS/2 is dead.

Gosh, it's taking this rumor a while to die.  There was a NYT article with
the headline: "IBM Chief Concedes OS/2 Has Lost Desktop War".  Which is
unmitigated crap.  IBM has repeatedly and clearly stated its support of the
OS/2 platform, even in the face of Windows 95.  In explanation of the Times
misunderstanding, Lou said his comments were:

 regarding the fact that OS/2 is the market leader
 in enterprise and commercial accounts and that IBM's primary OS/2
 focus is to maintain that leadership. The consumer and standalone
 desktop markets for OS/2 are growing but are secondary to our
 emphasis on client-server applications.

I'm guessing this has something to do with IBM's long-term vision of a
"connected" world: that it's more important to get the connectivity stuff
down now, because within a decade everyone's going to be connected anyway.
This doesn't mean "the battle for the desktop" is over; it means that IBM
thinks the "desktop" is going to disappear, as LAN and WAN connectivity
increase; and that OS/2 has to win the war in client server (where they have
a 4-1 advantage over the competition), because that's where the future
battleground is.

Making sense now?

For a full run-down of the whole media fiasco, see:

http://www.inetnw.com/~os2man/nyt.index.html

>They are also
>giving up their license to incorporate Windows. That means that your choice of
>software will shrink.

First I've heard of this.  I'd like to see a quote, please.  IF true, it means
they no longer ship Warp Fullpack (which includes Windows code) and only
ship Warp for Windows (which hooks into, and uses, your existing installed
Windows code).  Your choice of software remains the same. The support for
existing windows apps remains the same (ie, better than Windows 95 provides).

As this whole mess is considerably off-topic, I'd be happier if we could
continue the discussion off the list.  Please send any responses to my
address only, not the list.

Thanks,


Michael Priestley
mpriestley -at- vnet -dot- ibm -dot- com
Disclaimer: speaking on my own behalf, not IBM's.

NOTE: pay particular attention to this disclaimer.  I am not an IBM
spokesperson.  I am an OS/2 user who spent the last fifteen minutes getting
up to speed on this issue because it bugged the heck out of me.