OS/2 Shareware BBS: 14 Text/14-Text.zip/OS2_SLIP.ZIP/OS2_SLIP.TXT

Text File | 1991-10-14 | 8KB | 146 lines

| (WSJ): IBM To Delay Introduction Of OS/2 Operating System
|
|   NEW YORK -(AP-DJ)--International Business Machines Corp. will delay the
| introduction of a much-publicized version of its OS/2 personal-computer
| operating system by about three months, industry executives said, The Wall
| Street Journal reported Monday.
|
|   They said the postponement will undercut IBM"s all-out efforts to
| resuscitate OS/ 2 and go after Microsoft Corp."s Windows product in the
| companies" battle for control of an important part of the personalcomputer
| market. Both products control the basic functions of a personal computer, so
| whichever company wins the battle will not only generate hefty revenue but
| will also set a standard that the rest of the PC industry must follow.
|
|   The executives said the delay could even mark the beginning of the end for
| OS/2. That"s because IBM, which had already lost credibility on OS/2, had
| promised to get a great version out by the end of the year.
|
|   They said much of the reason for the delay is that IBM decided it had to
| add more capability to its software, known as OS/2 2.0. IBM had made a
| crucial promise last spring that was designed to undercut Windows" momentum:
| IBM said that software applications designed for Windows would work better
| with OS/2 than they would with Windows itself. But many people in the
| industry questioned whether IBM was living up to that promise once they saw
| details of the OS/2 version IBM planned to release this year. So the industry
| executives said IBM decided to delay the project rather than risk a flop.
|
|   The problem for IBM is that it used 40 million dlrs in advertising as a
| megaphone to broadcast its claims.
|
|   John Akers, the chief executive, told some senior OS/2 executives that he"d
| have their badges if they failed, according to people at those meetings who
| talked to the executives.
|
|   Those claims had generated skepticism, because IBM had been flogging OS/2
| since the spring of 1987 and had sold only about 600,000 copies by this
| spring. By contrast, the latest version of Microsoft"s Windows has sold more
| than 10 times that many copies since its introduction less than a year and a
| half ago. To overcome that kind of disparity in the computer industry, a
| product usually has to be far better than its competitor, not just
| demonstrably superior.
|
|   But IBM is IBM, so many customers and software companies decided to give it
| one last chance. And as recently as two weeks ago, IBM was vigorously denying
| that there were any problems with OS/2, according to a memo dated Sept. 27
| that a senior executive sent to IBM"s sales force.
|
|   Steve Ballmer, a senior vice president at Microsoft, declined to take any
| satisfaction from IBM"s delay, even though the companies had exchanged words
| in public over the likelihood that IBM would meet its goals. "Our basic job
| didn"t change one iota as a result of this," he said. Referring to two
| versions of Windows that Microsoft has promised in coming months and years,
| he said: "Our mission still has to be the same. Work on 3.1, work on 3.1,
| work on 3.1. Work on NT, work on NT, work on NT." But, he added, "You never
| get upset when your competitor messes up."
| (AP-DJ-10-14-91 0444GMT)
|                         Copyright (c) 1991 Dow Jones and Company,
| Inc.
| Received by NewsEDGE/LAN: 10/13/91 21:45

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| The New York Times, Saturday, October 12, 1991.
|
| I. B. M. disclosed yesterday that it would not meet its end-of-the-year goal
| for shipping a new version of its advanced personal computer operating
| system.  It has been counting on the system to blunt the growing influence
| of the Microsoft Corporation's Windows program.
|
| The setback, which the International Business Machines Corporation said had
| resulted from customers' concerns that arose in a product-testing program,
| is likely to hurt the company's credibility as it struggles to regain its
| authority in an increasingly bitter marketing war with its former partner.
|
| In April, I. B. M. said that by the end of the year it would have available
| a new version of its OS2 operating system program, which is intended to
| include support for both Windows and MS-DOS programs as well as more advance
| 32-bit programs.  The OS/2 will have a variety of advanced features and is
| reported to run programs significantly faster than today's 16-bit operating
| systems.
|
| But yesterday the company said it felt it needed more time to add features
| to the program, referred to OS/2 2.0.
|
| "We have decided to re-evaluate some of the features that our customers
| would like to see in this product," said Keith Lindenburg, an I. B. M.
| spokesman.  "We're reviewing the best way to respond to these requirements."
|
| Time Bajarin, a computer industry analyst at Creative Strategies, a market
| research firm in San Jose, Calif., said, "It hurts their credibility because
| the have been pushing so hard to get everybody on the OS/2 bandwagon."
|
| But others who watch the industry said the decision was a smart move.
|
| "They're wise to do that," said Richard G. Sherlund, a software analyst at
| Goldman, Sachs & company.
|
| "A year or two from now who will remember when the product shipped?  But
| everyone will remember if the product's not ready."
|
| An Impending Battle
|
| I. B. M.'s delay is likely to push back for several months a confrontation
| with Microsoft as both companies move to entice computer users to adopt
| programs that offer some of the same features, like mouse control and screen
| icons, that are closely identified with Apple Computer's Macintosh.
|
| Microsoft officials, who hae been publicly skeptical of I. B. M's claims
| that it would offer a "better Windows that Windows," said yesterday that
| I. B. M. faced a significant hurdle in offering the promised compatibility
| with the Microsoft program.
|
| "This is a company that has made a big deal about making their deadlines,"
| said Steven Ballmer, Microsoft's vice president for system software.
| "They're going to get some grief about this."
|
| Mr. Ballmer said Microsoft itself was racing to track down remaining bugs,
| or programming errors, in a new version of Windows that is due to be
| released early next year.  He said that the software publisher had sent its
| developers on a "bugathon" in recent weeks and he was confident that
| Microsoft, which has delayed the new Windows version known as 3.1 several
| times, would be able to meet its own new deadline.
|
| Mr. Ballmer said a crucial new feature would presend a major technical
| challenge to I. B. M. in modifying OS/2 to add the ability to run a
| program written for Microsoft's Windows in an OS/2 window.  Until recently
| I. B. M. had planned ot run Windows programs on a separte screen that would
| not be visible at the same time as other programs.
|
| Behind the Decision
|
| Industry executives said that the decision came after a product-assurance
| group did an audit and reported to the OS/2 management team that the project
| was significantly behind the year-end target.
|
| Mr. Sherlund said that the delay was certain to be a painful one for I. B.
| M. because Microsoft's Windows has continued to gain momentum in recent
| months.
|
| Microsoft said in an analysts' briefing yesterday that it had shipped six
| million copies of Windows and expected to have shipped eight million by the
| end of the year.
|
| "I. B. M. is standing on the sidelines watching with great apprehension
| here," Mr. Sherlund said.