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OS/2 Shareware BBS: 16 Announce
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16-Announce.zip
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IBMONW.ZIP
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IBMONW.PR
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1990-04-24
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IBM AND MICROSOFT EXPAND PARTNERSHIP
SET FUTURE DIRECTION FOR DOS, WINDOWS & OS/2
LAS VEGAS, NV -- November 15, 1989 -- IBM and Microsoft Monday
broadened the scope of their development partnership and have agreed to
develop jointly a consistent, full range of systems software offerings for
the 1990s. These software offerings will include enhancements to DOS, OS/2
and local area network products.
This statement of direction will assist customers in choosing the
software solution appropriate to their requirements and in planning a
smooth transition to the advanced personal computing platforms of the
1990s.
OS/2: PLATFORM FOR THE '90s (4MB of RAM and 60Mb Hard Disk)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Together, IBM and Microsoft described the "platform for the '90s" as
hardware systems with Intel 386 or 486 microprocessors, 4 megabytes (MB) of
memory and 60MB fixed disk drives with OS/2 and the Presentation Manager
graphical user interface.
To reaffirm this, the companies indicated the majority of their
application and systems development resources will be applied to OS/2
solutions. Beginning in the second half of 1990, IBM and Microsoft plan to
make their graphical applications available first on OS/2. Specifically,
the companies jointly announced:
o The intent to deliver a version of OS/2 that exploits the advanced
capabilities of the 386 and i486 in 1990. This version will have
advanced features such as demand paging and the ability to run
multiple DOS applications concurrently. It also will allow
applications to exploit the 32-bit flat memory model. Today's
emerging Presentation Manager applications will run unmodified on the
new version of OS/2.
o Availability of early development support for this new OS/2 version by
year-end 1989 with a common development toolkit. Software developers
starting new high performance or server applications targeted toward
386SX/4MB or larger systems should build directly on the advanced APIs
of this forthcoming 32-bit version of OS/2.
o The intent to develop OS/2 32-bit technology that is portable, along
with its applications, to other hardware instruction sets, e.g., RISC
(Reduced Instruction Set Computing architectures).
OS/2 1.2 (3Mb of RAM and 30Mb Hard Disk)
----------------------------------------
Today's OS/2 1.2 is recommended for systems with at least 3MB of
memory and 30MB fixed disk drives. IBM and Microsoft are committed to
continue to expand the range of OS/2 capable systems. As a first step, the
companies announced that the over 512 kilobytes (KB) of memory used by the
OS/2 "DOS Compatibility Box" also will be usable by OS/2 applications when
the DOS program is inactive. This capability will be available this year.
Both companies are making a concerted effort to enable OS/2 for 2MB
entry systems. Customers should plan to use Microsoft Windows to implement
graphical applications on platforms with less than 2MB of memory.
On systems with 4MB of memory, customers can take full advantage of
advanced system features such as the High Performance File System, expanded
LAN client features and advanced applications. OS/2 is currently best
suited for customers using or building database applications, needing full
multi-application and background processing support or using distributed
processing solutions requiring full LAN client support.
OS/2 is also recommended for all server applications. The new 32-bit
version of OS/2 will be further enhanced for server requirements. In
addition, certain advanced operating system features such as Department of
Defense security, full object- oriented capabilities and symmetrical
multi-processing, will be available only in future releases of 32-bit OS/2.
WINDOWS: ENTRY WORKSTATIONS (1 to 2Mb of RAM; Under 30Mb Hard Disk)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
DOS and Windows are recommended for systems with 1-2MB of memory or
fixed disk drives smaller than 30MB. For these customers, Windows is an
easy installation upgrade to DOS; allows the user to run existing DOS or
Windows applications; enables limited multi-application support; and
provides function for a basic LAN client and, as such, is an excellent
entry graphical workstation.
While Windows will provide the Systems Application Architecture (SAA)
user interface, it is not planned to include the full range of SAA support
that OS/2 will provide. Microsoft stated that Windows is not intended to
be used as a server, nor will future releases contain advanced OS/2
features such as distributed processing, the 32-bit flat memory model,
threads, or long file names. OS/2 is the recommended operating system
environment for new or existing 286/386 systems with 3MB or more of memory.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS
---------------------------------------
IBM and Microsoft believe customers with OS/2 capable systems and
software developers with Windows applications will want to migrate to OS/2.
IBM and Microsoft will provide support through tools, seminars and
technical assistance to help with that migration.
IBM and Microsoft recommend that software developers develop for the
platform that best meets their application's system requirements. Software
developers, other than those with current Windows projects under way, who
are targeting both environments, are recommended to start with OS/2.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS ABOUT OS/2
------------------------------
In addition to these announcements focused on the desktop
environments, IBM and Microsoft also announced:
o The two companies will work together to make the Database Manager,
Communications Manager and LAN Requester and Server functions of IBM's
OS/2 Extended Edition available to all OS/2 users. These functions of
OS/2 Extended Edition continue to be primary participants in the IBM
SAA strategy.
o For local area networks, the two companies intend to converge IBM's
OS/2 LAN Server and Microsoft's LAN Manager to be identical over time.
These LAN products will be designed to run on the base OS/2 operating
system in both client and server configurations, like LAN Manager does
today, and will exploit 386/i486 functions.
In summary, IBM and Microsoft are reaffirming their commitment to
provide a graphical user interface on all platforms and significantly
extending the functions of OS/2 to provide a consistent systems software
base for the hardware platforms of the '90s.
CONTACT: IBM Corp., White Plains, N.Y.
Scott R. Brooks, 702/792-3536 (through 11/17/89)
914/642-5408 (after 11/20/89)
or
Microsoft, Portland, Ore.
Pamela Edstrom, 503/245-0905