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- Path: sparky!uunet!pipex!unipalm!uknet!yorkohm!minster!martin
- From: martin@minster.york.ac.uk
- Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.advocacy
- Subject: Re: Media coverage (Electronic Engineer Times) Portability?
- Message-ID: <711756169.3791@minster.york.ac.uk>
- Date: 21 Jul 92 22:02:49 GMT
- Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of York, England
- Lines: 54
-
- Hauke Hess says:
- > > | 32-bit I/O drivers X X
- >
- > Yes, OS/2 has 32Bit IO drivers also!
-
- Oh yes? I've got the OS/2 PDD reference, and they don't look very 32-bit
- to me - except the virtual drivers for DOS boxes - but who wants DOS anyway :-)!
-
- > > | Available on non-X86 X
- >
- > OS/2 will be available on non X86 this fall.
-
- Ah now! This is rapidly becoming my biggest problem with OS/2 (1 month ago
- I was classed around here as an OS/2 fanatic, so don't think I started
- prejudiced against OS/2 - in fact the opposite is true!)
-
- Ok, so OS/2 will be on `non x86' machines this fall. I have no reason to
- disbelieve this. But *which* non x86 machines will it be? Will it be open
- architecture machines based around CPUs that anyone can buy, and hence clone,
- or will it be on RS6000 based machines? Will RS6000 chips be available to
- clone manufacturers? Or will IBM and Apple be the only people making these
- machines? Neither company are well known for producing low cost machines.
-
- NT will be available on x86, MIPS, and soon afterwards on Alpha. All of which
- can be bought by anyone, and built into machines by anyone - hence there is
- likely to be competition between these machine manufacturers which will keep
- the price down (how much less does a clone cost than a PS/2?). Of course
- the RS6000 *might* also be easy to buy, and assuming IBM don't have awkward
- conditions (a la microchannel liciencing) we might get RS6000 clones too,
- but then what is to stop Microsoft, or some enterprising 3rd party, from
- porting NT to the RS6000? (Note that DEC are doing the port to Alpha, not
- Microsoft)
-
- The *big* advantage of going with Microsoft - and God knows there
- are reasons *not* to want to go with Microsoft - is that Microsoft do not
- make processors or machines, and hence do not have a reason to lock users
- into any particular (hardware) architecture. Just look what happened to Unix
- once AT&T started trying to sell computers!
-
- That's the market analysis :-), quite apart from that NT has *as standard*
- features which I was losing alot of sleep over trying to work out how to do
- under OS/2 - in fact I asked the net for ideas, and got no helpful replies
- at all! I just hope they work!
-
- Martin
- INTERNET: martin@minster.york.ac.uk
- JANET: martin@uk.ac.york.minster
- surface:
- Dr. Martin C. Atkins
- Dept. of Computer Science
- University of York
- Heslington
- York YO1 5DD
- ENGLAND
-