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This transcript is provided by GEnie and GEnie's OS/2 Roundtable, The premier INDEPENDENT OS/2 interest group! You can sign up for GEnie by calling 1-800-638-9636 (USA) This transcript can be freely distributed as long as this preamble is not removed and the text within remains un-altered! -------------------------------- Welcome to the GEnie OS/2 Roundtable Real Time Conference! The premier INDEPENDENT OS/2 interest group! Brought to you by Jeff Elkins (ELKINS), Brady Flowers (BRADY), and Charlie Strom (STROM) OS/2 R/T SYSOPs With Assistant SYSOP's ++-------------------------+ Doug Robison (D.ROBISON), ++-------------------------+____ Stewart Hyde (S.HYDE), | | | BB | Rick Ruhl (RICKER), | Ride the OS/2 wave | |____| Steven Tower (TOWER), | |#| Brian Withnell (BW), | into the future! | | Kevin Royalty (K.ROYALTY) | | | +--------------------------+ OS/2 is a registered | RTC | trademark of IBM Corporation | LIB | ^^^^^^^ OS/2 Roundtable mail address: OS2$. The OS/2 Roundtable is independent and is not affiliated with IBM Corporation. ============================================================== Some procedural notes: The room is "Listen Only" mode so you'll have to use the "/RAI" command to request to ask a question; we'll take questions in the order they are requested. You'll be given the chance to ask one follow-up question after your initial one. There are usually more questions than we have time for at these events so, please be kind to the other attendees and don't try to "sneak in" four of five questions into one by using the word "and" a lot. :) After you finished typing a question or an answer type the letters "GA" (for Go Ahead) so that the others will know you're done. ============================================================== John Soyring, Director of Software Development Programs for IBM's Personal Software Products Division is with us tonight for a special question and answer session. OS/2 has really exploded in recent months, and John is going to fill us in on recent developments and long-term plans for OS/2, Workplace OS, and other related software. This promises to be an important and exciting event. ============================================================== <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> John, do you have any opening comments? <[John] PRESS-13> Brady, thank you. It is indeen a please to be here if you can bear with my slow typing. Much of the success of OS/2 is due to the involvement of individual users worldwide who have helped us design, test and marketing of OS/2. Most of these interactions with users have been via cyberspace. That is why these conferences are so important to us. We are very pleased with the recent success associated with OS/2. PC Computing, Byte and others have awarded OS/2 their top product award. Our service organization recently was awarded the trophy as the best service organization. And now after several months of being number 2 or 3 on Ingram Micros best selling software chart, OS/2 2.1 has leaped into the #1 position ahead of Windows 3.1. I love it!!! <[John] PRESS-13> Any specific questions? <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Jeff Elkins has the first RAised hand.. <[Jeff] ELKINS> Welcome to GEnie, John! I'm happily running the 2.11 beta. Can we expect fixes and patches like we saw with the March 2.1 Beta? GA <[John] PRESS-13> Thanks Jeff for the welcome. When you say the 2.11 beta, I assume you mean that you are running the beta of the first Service Pak for OS/2 2.1. This Service Pak process will be similar to the Service Pak process we had for OS/2 2.0, but we are doing much more beta testing of the Service Pak before we release it to the general public. For those who do not know the IBM terminolgy, Service Pak is a set of bug fixes. GA. <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Folloup question Jeff? <[Jeff] ELKINS> This fall has been a great month for OS/2 apps. C Set++, Realizer, Ami Pro...One exception was been Word Perfect's defection from the OS/2 market. Is WP a dead issue for OS/2? What's your take on this controversy? (especially in regards to their new CEO) GA <[John] PRESS-13> h I could say more. <[John] PRESS-13> GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> I think we missed some of that John... be careful about lines longer than 256 characters.. <[John] PRESS-13> What is the max length for s line here? <[John] PRESS-13> Okay. I will retype several notes. sigh <[Jeff] ELKINS> we got "I could say more" :) <[John] PRESS-13> Jeff, I personally have spent a great deal of time with the entire board of directors of WordPerfect, including Ad Rietveld, the new president and CEO. I have spent a great deal of time discussing with WordPerfect their product development plan. WordPerfect continues to develop their server and gateway products on OS/2. In fact, they tell me that Office 4.0 for OS/2 handles four times the load as its DOS-based sister. As for client applications, like the WordPerfect wordprocessor, I fully understand what WordPerfect needs to do to provide a highly competitive next generation of products. We are working with WPCorp to ensure that OS/2 can easily support the next generation of products. However, since this is a WordPerfect product plan, I am not at liberty to disclose their confidential plans. Wish I could say more. Bottom line: WP is important to us and we intend to keep working with them. GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Okay. Thanks John. Before we get to the next question, Kathy Fanning has a doorprize to give away. :) Kathy? <KFANNING> The first person to /SEN me the right answer to the following question gets a tshirt - the next 3 get trinkets....... <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Oooh.. trinkets... <KFANNING> How old was our esteemed guest, John Soyring, last week? <[chas] STROM> sysops need not apply:) <KFANNING> Paul was first; Kimberly, Jack.Moore, and Kevin were 2-4. Congrats! <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Congrats everyone! Okay.. next question is from Mr. DevTech! Evan, you're up.. <[John] PRESS-13> Booo Kathy. Did I ask your age <g>? <[Evan] TILRYTHRAN> John, would you please enlighten us as to what is happening with OS/2 for Windows? It's a very exciting product, and I'm sure we'd all be very interested. [As an aside, I was just at an Electronics Boutique in a nearby mall this weekend, and they had a copy of OS/2 for Windows, in the Windows Applications section. It was spine-out, and they didn't know they had it, but both conditions were corrected by the time I left. <g>] [GA] <[John] PRESS-13> Evan, thanks for correcting the problem at Electronics Boutique. I wonder who turned the OS/2 for Windows box spine out? Seriously, OS/2 for Windows (aka Ferengi) is selling like hot cakes ... <[John] PRESS-13> I just reviewed the sales figures this morning and I was delighted with the retail sales of OS/2 for Windows. Sales of this product are what caused the jump from third position to first on the Ingram Micro best selling software chart. In fact, the CD-ROM version of OS/2 (and OS/2 for Windows) is now in the number two position is sales of CD-ROM titles only trailing the game 7th Guest. GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Follow-up question, Evan? <[Evan] TILRYTHRAN> [That's GREAT news, John! I don't suppose that you could tell us what the publicly available figures are for sales, so far?] My follow up question deals with the ServicePak beta for 2.1. Is it also supposed to be used with OS/2 for Windows, and is there any final time-frame for its GA release? [GA] <[John] PRESS-13> Evan, sorry, but sales figures remain confidential -- as in the past ...As far as the Service Pak, it applies to the full-pack of OS/2 2.1. I will have to check about the Service Pak for OS/2 for Windows. Our goal is to keep them both at the same service level. GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Thanks, everyone, for remembering to type "GA" when you're done with a question or answer. It helps keep things moving along! Next up, Ray Chuang... <[Ray (DCS)] R.CHUANG> John> Do you think IBM will be successful in getting OS/2 2.1 "preloaded" on machines from the large clone manufacturers like Compaq, Dell, Gateway 2000, Zeos, and IBM's own AMBRA division as a "no extra charge" option....as a substitute for the DOS 6.x/Windows 3.1 combination? GA <[John] PRESS-13> Raymond, recent sales of OS/2 2.1 are catching the eyes of PC manufacturers. Though we already have deals signed with many manufacturers, today most install OS/2 when ordered. Now, we are getting more inquires (including from the PC company) about pre-loading Ferengi (oops, I mean OS/2 for Windows) ...in addition to the already installed DOS and Windows. GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Follow-up question, Ray? <[Ray (DCS)] R.CHUANG> Yes. Will future versions of OS/2 2.x _fully_ take advantage of the Pentium chip features, notably the virtual interrupt capability and other advanced features? GA <[John] PRESS-13> Ray, as you know, OS/2 2.1 was the first operating system released that exploited the Pentium chip. The Virtual DOS Machine (aka Win-OS/2) code was compiled using the WATCOM compiler with Pentium optimizations set. ...We intend in future releases to continue to take further advantage of Pentium features -- especially since I am thinking about getting a Pentium system for home use <g>. GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Next question is from Stu Hyde.. we'll do another trivia question immediately after that. <[Jeff] ELKINS> no sysops! <[MagicCarpet] S.HYDE> Give me some time to write this one.. <[John] PRESS-13> Glad to read that someone else also types slowly. GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Why don't we do that trivia question while Stu's typeing (You're ineligible anyway Stu :) <KFANNING> John, you're faster than David Barnes was! <[MagicCarpet] S.HYDE> I am wondering about the single input queue problem, I have heard that the multiable queue solution (NT) is not desirable, what is going to happen for OS/2. How about seperating Mouse and Keyboard. GA <KFANNING> Okay, I can do that! <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Ok.. trivia after Stu (Plan "A") :) <[John] PRESS-13> Stu, good question. First, OS/2 and NT both have a single input queue for the system. The difference is, NT dispatches input events from the system queue to other queues on an asynchronous basis. OS/2 also has multiple input queues to which the system queue synchronously dispatches input events ...So the difference is not multiple versus single input queue. Rather the difference is how (synchronous versus asynchronous) the input events are dispatched from the primary queue to other input queues in the system... The original OS/2 design was done in the fashion of Windows 2.x and 3.x. With the Workplace OS project, we have an opportunity to use asyncronous dispatching. GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Very informative, John! Follow-up question, Stu? <[MagicCarpet] S.HYDE> Is keyboard the main problem, or does the Mouse come into problem..if mouse was in a seperate queue then the user can select a control panel and kill the hogging task and system will be find...Also maybe you could think about virtualizing inputs for each session poll for events...just some ideas that come to my mind on the problem. GA <[John] PRESS-13> Brady, neither the keyboard nor the mouse input really cause the hang problems in OS/2 associated with the input queue. What is happening is that four messages are exchanged in the synchronous exchange ... if the application hangs on one of these messages exchanges, it locks up the input queue for a while. However, the synchronous makes for some easier programming. The events are already virtualized. GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Okay.. another trivia question from Ms. Fanning and then a question from Keith Morrison directly afterwards.. <KFANNING> This time I have a book for the first correct responder to /SEN me the correct answer... What product won PC Computing's MVP award last month at Fall Comdex -for the second year in a row? <RICKER> (do a /sen 22 <answer>) <[John] PRESS-13> Thanks for the correction Stu. GA <KFANNING> The winner of the book is Ray (DCS); Eric, Kimberly, and PROF.MARK get the trinkets..... John was about 10th :)! COngratulations all. <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Kathy must be deluged... <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Okay.. thanks Kathy. Keith is next with a question... <[|<eith] K.MORRIS5> What is the word on COLORS/PALLETE? Many of my co-workers see PCTools for WIN and say YEA then they see the UGLY OLD GRAY and say NO! If they use OS/2 they like it. I'm talking about the PSYCHOLOGICAL impact..... OS/2 is mature enought now to need the "SLICK" stuff. The users need to see stuff to make them say I NEED THIS NOW!!!!! I've read that "MANAGEMENT" at IBM stopped some fancy ICONS and stuff. Is this true? I personally can CHANGE the WPS, but new users are usually STUCK with the GRAY until they LEARN OS/2.... GA <[John] PRESS-13> Keith, a great deal of study by psychologist went into the OS/2 color selections. The colors were selected for people who spend many hours per day looking at a screen. The OS/2 colors caused the least eye fatigue. ... It was not management that stopped any fancy icons and color selections. Rather, it was the technical people who stopped the suggestions for fancy colors and fancy icons. A group of people, including managers (ie, me) favored fancy colors and wild icons. We were over ruled by the non-management team that owned the job of picking the right colors and icons for the market segments we tareted ....Now, for a different market segment (ie, home game users), we could very well offer a special brand of OS/2 with colors and icons suitable to them. As the PC Company has done, you will see more branding from IBM. GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Speaking as a color-blind person, the default colors are VERY "seeable"! Follow-up question, Keith? <[|<eith] K.MORRIS5> GET A NEW TECH TEAM! Also, IFS should have an HPFS with STACKED data.... FROM IBM! (Gee look at all the neat stuff in DOS 6.2... blah blah blah) how about it? <Gee, how do we ALL get fancy OS/2 T-Shirts? I live in PODUNK USA.><G> GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> I beleive there's an 800 number to call for OS/2 merchandise... <[John] PRESS-13> Keith, when you say STACKED data, do you mean Stac Electronics Stacker stacked data? GA <[|<eith] K.MORRIS5> Something like that... I was thinking that an IFS could very easily <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Okay .. next up is Chris Rehmi... <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Oops.. sorry Keith <[Chris] C.REHM1> ??? <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Didn't you have your hand raised Chris? <[Chris] C.REHM1> Yes, but I believe K was answering a question from John. <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> sorry... back on track :) <[|<eith] K.MORRIS5> Kind of like STACK ELEC. But from IBM. An IFS=SOMETHING GA <[John] PRESS-13> Keith, we are working with several other parties on additional compression products. In fact, a Dutch company just announced a new compression product for OS/2 this evening. Contact Nico de Vries for info. GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Okay.. now Chris... <[Chris] C.REHM1> My question, John, is about drivers. from a corporate standpoint...I have a lot of machines in a lot of different places and I can't just download...drivers for each user who tacks on a new Magna-Zomm. What can I look forward to to supply those drivers. I know the hardware vendor should, but they don't and I still want to install OS/2. Cheer me up. GA <[John] PRESS-13> Chris, we are working closely with all of the major component and product manufacturers. During the coming months, you will likely see device driver support on OS/2 probably as complete as on Windows 3.11 -- if not more so. GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Follow-up question, Chris? <[Chris] C.REHM1> Do you mean, the vendors will start supplying them with the hardware, or that OS/2 will come with drivers for as much hardware? and how long do you mean by "coming months", will there be an upgraded release with the new plethora of drivers? GA <[John] PRESS-13> Chris, due to cost considerations of including diskettes in the OS/2 shrinkwrap, we intend to only provide a competitive set of device drivers in the shrinkwrap. However, with CD-ROM technology, we may include many more device drivers and other neat stuff on the CD-ROM. I strongly encourage all to acquire a CD-ROM drive for their PC's. GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Okay. Time for another trivia question! <KFANNING> Another tshirt for the first to /SEN 22 me the right answer..... <KFANNING> What position does OS/2 hold on Ingram Micro's Best Selling Software chart? <KFANNING> Congrats to Chris for knowing it's #1!!! Keith, Kimberly, and Lee were 2-4.... <[John] PRESS-13> Kathy, did you get my answer to the trivia question first. Of course, I am not a sysop and I do need a t-shirt <g> <KFANNING> Kimberly will have the largest collection of trinkets after tonight! <KFANNING> John, nope you were about 5th - I'll give you a tshirt anyway for doing this RTC tonight! <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> We're going to take a short, 5-minute intermission to let the sysop and speaker stand up for a minute.. /SEN among yourselves :) <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Okay.. room will be public for five minutes ** <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Room is now listen-only. <[Jeff] ELKINS> John, How will MMPM be expanded under 2.2? I wand system sounds extended to the object level. i.e. launch a program,play a WAV. GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Oh oh .. mea culpa <[John] PRESS-13> Thanks Brady. Are my last two answers to Jeff lost? GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Sorry .. I neglected to let you talk :) GA <[John] PRESS-13> Okay ... <[John] PRESS-13> Jeff, I have not looked closely at the details of our plan for enhanced MMPM/2 support in OS/2 2.2. Sorry, but I do not have an answer for your question. GA <[Jeff] ELKINS> How is optimization for 4 meg going? GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Everyone ... I just had a small software failure here.. bear with me while I get back on track... <[John] PRESS-13> Jeff, our working set size reduction work (what you describe as 4 MB optimization) is going well. We are repacking the code such that for the popular applications, only the most frequently executied instructions are paged into memory. This repackaging of the code will help us get to a smaller memory requirement for entry level configurations and it should provide a performance boost to all. GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> I've lost my (software based) list of raised hands but I still have the paper one... Paul (Stenhenge) is up next... <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> (I mean Stonehenge <g>) <[Paul] STONEHENGE> John, glad to see IBM has a presence here on GEnie. I'm a small Windows developer who doesn't use OS/2 but is taking notice of Ferengi. I also think IBM has THE best Human Factors folks anywhere and that is your great competitive advantage. I'm getting confused by the proliferation of API's under Windows and am curious how SOM compares to OLE? It might be simpler. GA <[John] PRESS-13> Paul, one of the trade magazines this week equated SOM to OLE. They are wrong. OLE is an application level mechanism for exchanging information between existing procedural applications and viewing the results embedded in the client application. On the other hand, the System Object Model is a truly object-oriented means of two objects locating one another and communicating between the two objects.SOM has two key advantages: (1) it offers language independence -- that is, two objects may be written in different languages, yet you can now wire them together via SOM and they can talk; (2) SOM allows companies to protect their intellectual assets by allowing objects to be shipped in binary, executable format. Languages today, like C++ really require you to ship souce for objects. Paul, since you write apps for Windows, you may be pleased to know that we will soon be releasing SOM for Windows into a beta test (news here on GEnie). This will allow you to create objects which will be readily portable across multiple heterogeneous operating systems. GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Any follow-up Paul? <[Paul] STONEHENGE> That beta sounds great! I'll be first inl line! Yes, follow up. OS/2 for Windows 'feels' a lot like HP New Wave but is... is 'over' Windows like New Wave or 'under' Windows? GA <[John] PRESS-13> Not quite Paul. OS/2 for Windows perhaps should have been called BORG rather than FERENGI. Rather than operating either over or under Windows, OS/2 for Windows actually assimilates Windows into OS/2 -- allowing you to run DOS apps, Windows apps and OS/2 apps under this assimilated operating environment. The Windows code actually runs on top of OS/2's optimized DOS, but under the overall control of OS/2 (which virtualizes interrupts to Windows and manages the I/O operations (including the screen.) GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Okay.. everyone bear with me. The questioneer list looks like this: Kevin, Eric, Doug, Amanda, Evan, and BACCHUS. You folks don't need to raise your hands again. Anyone else with a question will be appended to the list. So, let's do a trivia question before the next Question for John. Kathy? <KFANNING> Okay, another book for the first! <KFANNING> What does HPFS stand for? <KFANNING> Congrats to all, no spelling errors! <KFANNING> Lee was first for the book, Chris, Jack, and Eric get the trinkets. <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Okay .. we've got another 30 minutes to get thru these questions.. Kevin is up next <[OS2Ambasador] K.ROYALTY> Thanks for coming John. I have two questions: First: Will IBM be continuing the Open Beta Program for OS/2 2.2 like they have for 2.1 and the 2.11 Service Pak? GA <[John] PRESS-13> We fully intend to continue having large and open beta tests for our new releases of OS/2. We find that when we involve our customers, potential customers, business partners, the press even in the requirements stage, the design stage, the coding stage and the testing stage we end up with a much better product. The recognition by PC Computing and other magazines is great, but the fantastic sales are the recognition we really enjoy. GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Follow up, Kevin? <[OS2Ambasador] K.ROYALTY> That's great news John, thanks. Yes...typing <[OS2Ambasador] K.ROYALTY> The Mwave Windsurfer Comm Adapter is similar to the Audiovation card. The Audiovation has mention of OS/2 in it's statement of direction. None for the MWave, which is perfect for OS/2. GA <[John] PRESS-13> Kevin, what that last sentence a question? <[OS2Ambasador] K.ROYALTY> ack. Yes, Will there be OS/2 support for the MWave. <[John] PRESS-13> The MWave team is developing OS/2 device driver support. I must leave it up to them (a separate group) to announce their plans and products though. ... but I want an MWave card for my home PC -- so the pressure is on them <g>. GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Ok.. moving along .. Eric is next <[Eric Pinnell] CYBERSIM> Oh goody. The wait is finally over<G>. John, I am writing the cover story for the March issue of OS/2 magazine talking about OS/2 for Windows. In my benchmark tests, I have discovered (much to my disgust) that the XGA drivers supplied with OS/2 2.1 for WINOS2 are to put it mildly, slower than molasses. I have heard that the beta service pack for 2.1 includes new seamless XGA drivers. So how do I go about getting a copy without having to wait a week (I leave Tuesday for a week in Calgary). If I can get a quick response, I'll have to write something like "OS/2 for Windows was a dog running XGA", which I'd rather not. Also, do you know if the SP works with OS24W? GA <[John] PRESS-13> Eric, we know that a couple of the current display device drivers are slow (one is very slow.) We are fixing the problems that I know about. I suggest that you contact Franz Walkow of our device driver group in Boca. Earlier I answered the question about the new Service Pak and I mentioned that I have to check about whether there will be two (concurrent) Service Paks (for OS/2 and for Ferengi) or a single Service Pak for both. I do not know the answer tonight. Sorry. GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Follow up question Eric? <[Eric Pinnell] CYBERSIM> John, given that the big developers for OS/2 have come out with some real turkeys in trying to make a quick port over to OS/2, when is IBM going to stop being afraid of scaring off developers and release some truly *HOT* OS/2 applications that will drive the OS/2 market. Relying on 3rd party vendors means you will always get ports of Windows products, except for some very small niche stuff that most users have never heard of.> This is particularly galling since OS/2s multimedia capabilities are embarassingly better than Windows. GA <[John] PRESS-13> Eric, we already have some hot OS/2 applications -- some are subsystems (DB2/2, CICS for OS/2, Communications Manager/2), some are cross industry apps, (Time & Place/2, Personal Application System/2) and many are vertical apps for banking, manufacturing, insurance -- these apps are selling real well. As far as apps like speadsheets, wordprocessors, graphicsl, etc -- we are working with 3rd parties to help them improve their apps. Apps on Windows 3.0 (as you may recall from Lotus, WordPerfect, etc) were not too hot on their initial release. GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Thanks... next up, Amanda from World Corp <[Amanda] WORLD.CORP> BTW, congrats to the OS/2 team for all the recent good press. In particular I mean the InfoWorld 32-bit OS reviews. My question concerns the acceptance & improvement of OS/2 in the near future. I consult for SKC and Deloitte & Touche MC. When OS/2 was initially released, I became an immediate fan, suggesting it for darn near every IT project we encountered. And IBM support was marvelous, too. What it couldn't handle, however, is down-sizing. I got OS/2 into production on two projects. We're now pulling it off. Ultimately, we had to use SCO Unix and (lately) Windows NT to do the core processing. Eventually, we migrated those two systems to Windows NT. When it came down to large numbers of transactions, OS/2 didn't do it for us. Instead, we ended up placing NCR 3570s and 3575's running NT. Being able to purchase 32 Pentium's in a box saved our necks. That's why JP Morgan, Chemical Bank, Johnson-Rice, and most of New York's financial district won't even consider OS/2 anymore. Question 1a: How long 'til OS/2 runs on industrial-strength machines? Question 1b: DEC's Alpha is becoming our new sweetheart. How long until you port? Question 2: When will you guys stop waiting for an OS/2 killer app and write one? Thanks for joining us on GEnie! <[John] PRESS-13> Amanda, thanks for your questions and your support of OS/2. I do not know if you are aware, but we have been demo'ing OS/2 recently running on symmetrical multiprocessing machines and on RISC processors. The SMP support will be going into beta test soon. The RISC version of OS/2 (from the Workplace OS project) should be in beta test during 1994. Amanda, I think we already have several killer apps for specific industries. And I think that ISV's are starting to produce some great apps on OS/2 -- check out products like Quantum Leap from Quantum Development Corp. <[Jeff] ELKINS> And TE/2 <[Amanda] WORLD.CORP> What about the Alpha? I hate to turn this around on you, but OS/2 SMP in beta is strictly "Not there..." <[John] PRESS-13> Quantum Leap was recently announced as an app that would exploit the Intel, RISC and SMP versions of OS/2. Also, check out products like Brady's TE/2 <g>. GA <[Amanda] WORLD.CORP> I need it yesterday, not in beta. I still love OS/2, though. Errr... I'm done! <[John] PRESS-13> Amanda, if you need SMP today, I recommend you get AIX on RS/6000 or NT on some vendors SMP hardware, or SCO's offering, or ... GA <[John] PRESS-13> Thanks for still loving OS/2. The SMP version is like fine wine -- we are aging it before letting you enjoy it <g>. GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Okay.. we're goijng to do one more quick trivia question and then Evan, your questio IS short isn't it? Then we have to leave John go for tonight. Kathy? <KFANNING> Okay, one last tshirt..... <[John] PRESS-13> Kathy's sleeping. <KFANNING> What's the premier 32-bit operating system on the market today? <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Okay .. Evan, ONE quick question... <KFANNING> Was it that hard? Only 3 people answered - one trinket left! <[Evan] TILRYTHRAN> John, I want to also thank you for taking the time to be with us tonight. I'd like to address my last question to the OS/2 Market. How is that market broken up, percentage-wise. I know that I heard in August from one of the Keynote speakers (JC?) that corporate usage accounted for approximately 80% of the OS/2 market, and that of that, the lion's share was in the Finance, Insurance, and Processing (manufacturing) industries. Is this changing? Is there anything which you could add to this? GA <[John] PRESS-13> Evan, you have to be careful with numbers. Our corporate sales numbers include large, medium and small corporations -- and they are guesstimates as many purchases are through dealers. However, you are right, OS/2 is selling extremely well to retail banks, insurance companies, manufacturing companies and transportations (rail, air,etc.) companies.GA <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Okay! The OS/2 RT sysops and assistants, and everyone else I'm sure, really want to thank you for coming tonight John! Hope we can do it again sometime! My appologies to everyone who DIDN'T get their questions asked. But now John has another neeting to attend!! Thanks again John! <[John] PRESS-13> Brady, I had a great time. Mind if I leave with one long message? <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Go for it! <[John] PRESS-13> First of all, thank you to each of you who participated here tonight. I am honored that you gave up your evening to exchange messages with me. It is people like you who have shaped what OS/2 is today and what it will be tomorrow. You have done this by asking questions and sending us your ideas. We have lterally received hundreds of thousands of messages which we read and factor into our product plans. Thank you. During the coming months, we have some exciting enhancements coming for OS/2 --C2 security hooks, SMP support, RISC processor support, distributed processing support, Taligent object technology on OS/2, and much, much more. My deepest gratitude goes out to each and everyone of you. Please have a safe, happy and healthy holiday season. <[Jeff] ELKINS> Thanks John! The honor was ours. Come back sometime! <[OS/2][RTC] BRADY> Thanks once again. Jeff Elkins has informed me that the transcript of this RTC will be available in the OS/2 RT LIBrary almost immediately! ASCII and Ami formats. And thanks to all the participants!