From: dic5340@hertz.njit.edu (David Charlap)
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.advocacy
Subject: Re: nt, an assessment
Date: 22 Jul 92 16:17:15 GMT
Distribution: comp
Organization: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N.J.

In article <1992Jul21.2712.2725@dosgate> "bill dehaan" <bill.dehaan@canrem.com> writes:
>SD>Can we expect at least 1 in 10 Windows users to move to NT? Will
>
>The  average  user?  No.  Development/MIS/"power"  user? Probably.

There's an interesting point.  OS/2 is aimed at the average user.  And
may become significant there, because Windows 3.x's multitasking gets
very frustrating at times.  Especially once the user has had a taste
of OS/2.  Personally, I get upset by the fact that I can't copy files
to my floppy disk (from a DOS window) while downloading other files.

If NT isn't for the average user, the average user will want to go
elsewhere, in many cases.  Whether that's to OS/2 or to some other
system, I can't say, but they won't want to stick with DOS/Windows
forever. 

>I expect that they will. They  will probably also have OS/2 and  Windows
>3.1 upgrade offers galore. They did  it with 3.0, they did it  with 3.1,

Did I miss something?  I recall no upgrade offer from OS/2 to Windows
3.0 or 3.1.  And the discount upgrade prices were only for recent
purchases.  The rest of us got an upgrade price that was similar to
the regular price at discount software stores.

>The other groups you've  ignored are those people  who will be doing  NT
>work  because  of  the  features  OS/2  lacks: security, Posix, etc. And
>anybody currently doing Windows development will take a look at NT;  how
>many more is that? More than a few.

Well, OS/2 has security when networked.  How many of us share one
console among many users?  Not in any place I've worked.

As for Posix, I'm of the opinion that if you want to develop Unix
apps, you should have a Unix box.  There are inexpensive Unix packages
already on the market, some of which (like Minix) can run in an OS/2
VDM right now (with a little work).

Yes, Windows programmers will look at NT.  As they are looking at
OS/2.  I know of no Windows programmers who LIKE the Windows API.
They view it as a necessary evil for Windows software development.
The OS/2 developers, on the other hand, enjoy the system they're
programming.  I think that the Windows developers who switch to NT
will be either Windows 3.x programmers who don't want to learn much
more to write 32-bit code, or programmers who must learn NT because of
a management decision to write NT software.

This, of course, is assuming that the NT API is similar to the Windows
3.x API.  It may not be.  I haven't seen the NT API, and I'm not that
familiar with the Windows 3.x API.

>It shows their COMMITMENT. Microsoft  is taking NT very seriously.  They
>are  being  more  open  with  NT  material  now  than  IBM  is with OS/2
>information ("June CSD?").  No argument that  OS/2 has lit  a fire under
>their butt, but I wouldn't exactly call them running scared.

IBM never stated any date for upgrades.  They simply said that updates
will be released when available.  And they are being released right
now, electronicly.  When all updates are completed, they will be
packaged and distributed.

No, MS isn't running scared, but they should be a little less cocky or
they're likely to be taken by surprise.  Whatever they say, they
aren't likely to ever attain 90% market penetration, and they
shouldn't assume they someday will.


>SD>It is a high stakes game they are playing.
>
>Yes, it is. And they've got a lot of experience playing it.

So does IBM.  I'd love to be the bookie taking bets on this match...

-- 
   |)  David Charlap           "I don't even represent myself
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Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.advocacy