From: brian@jaguar.cs.utah.edu (Brian Sturgill)
Subject: Some new tidbits and my "retirement" from os2.advocacy.
Originator: brian@jaguar.cs.utah.edu
Organization: University of Utah CS Dept
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 92 08:04:29 GMT


Contents:
	My "retirement" from comp.os.os2.advocacy.
	OS/2 apps
	Micrografx falls out with IBM, WordPerfect to use Mirrors.
	PC Week LABS view of OS/2 developer conference
	IBM sells a lot of 2.0 to Price Waterhouse
	CorelDraw 2.5 for OS/2 2.0

[
	I have purposely omitted several articles on Windows for Workgroups.
	I'll be making another posting this week-end on nothing but
	that.  It will be posted _only_ to comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy.
]
	
-------------
[
This will be my last Tidbits posting that will be cross-posted to
comp.os.os2.advocacy.  It also represents a definite slow-down, if
not a complete halt to posts by me to comp.os.os2.advocacy.
Despite the fact that most of my Tidbits posts have news about OS/2,
good news and bad, as available in the week's trade rags, many
comp.os.os2.advocacy postings have accused me of slanting the news.
I've grown tired of the abuse I receive there, and the current "Is
Windows an OS" thread is too annoying for words.  In short, I'm
moving my efforts to comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy, if you want to continue
to see my posts, you'll need to look in that group.

A side effect of this is that my Tidbits posts will be geared toward
Windows, having only those OS/2 articles that are of interest to c.o.ms-w.a
readers.

In truth I believe its time I should do this anyway.
The recent revelations about Mirrors, and who is using it have convinced me
that I don't need to worry about the PM API.  Thus a portion of my
interest in OS/2 has left.

Further it's time the "discussion" moved to c.o.ms-w.advocacy as the big
discussions originated there at a time that OS/2 had to prove that it was
better than Windows.  When OS/2 2.0 became real, the discussion moved to
the OS/2 advocacy group as the Windows 3.1 people needed to justify
their champion against the technically superior product.  Now with the release
of Windows for Workgroups, and the release of the NT beta, I believe
the balance has shifted, and that it is time for the OS/2 fans to
justify themselves against Microsoft's Windows family of products.
]
-------------
[PC Week; November 2, 1992; Page 61]
HANDFUL OF OS/2 2.0 apps debut; major players hold off.
By Amy Cortese and Jai Singh

NEW YORK--While several vendors used the backdrop of IBM's recent developers'
conference here to unveil new OS/2 2.0 applications, heavyweights that
could boost OS/2's status are holding off until later this year.

Microrim Inc., Commix SP Inc., Source-Line Software Inc. and The Stirling
Group were among the firms announcing OS/2 2.0-specific databases,
multimedia tools and language products. However, absent from the rollout
were Lotus Development Corp. and Borland International Inc., as well
as hardware OEMs Compaq Computer Corp. and AST Research Inc.--all of
which are expected to release OS/2 2.0 products by the end of the year,
according to sources.

IBM needs backing from the major players for OS/2 2.0 to be judged
a success and to satisfy the more than 2 million OS/2 2.0 users the
company hopes to have on-board by year's end, analysts said. IBM has
promised that more than 1,000 third-party OS/2 applications would be
shipped this year.

"IBM is not getting the number of applications out there for OS/2,"
said Amy Wohl, editor of TrendsLetter, an industry newsletter in Bala
Cynwid, Pa. "I think they're going to have a hard time hitting that
target."

APPS DELUGE ON HORIZON
The trickle of OS/2 2.0 applications will give way to a torrent of
new programs for the operating system by the fourth quarter, said John
Soyring, director of software development programs at IBM in Austin,
Texas.

Moreover, Soyring and other IBM officials said the company is trying
to boost OS/2 2.0's OEM presence by negotiations with major PC makers
to preinstall the operating system on their machines.

So far, many of the 30 PC makers IBM has signed up are outside the
United States. IBM is close to signing deals with Compaq, AST and NEC
Technologies Inc., sources said. These represent the most significant
players since IBM inked an agreement earlier this fall with Dell Computer
Corp.
...
-------------
[PC Week; November 2, 1992; Page 57,64]
[A reminder from my OS/2 developer conference report:
	Mirrors leaves the app code itself as 16-bit.
	Apps that use mirrors incur that overhead, the overhead
	of the API translation, and the overhead of the thunking
	from the 16-bit to 32-bit DLLs.
	Plus they are really written for Windows, not OS/2.
]
MICROGRAFX REGAINS CONTROL OF MIRRORS
...
Micrografx Inc. is taking back responsibility for Mirrors from IBM, starting
with this month's Comdex/Fall launch of a private-label version of
the Windows-to-OS/2 2.0 porting tool kit.

Micrografx is eager to sell Mirrors on its own because IBM ran into
constraints promoting the tool kit due to its bias toward OS/2 APIs
(application programming interfaces), according to Micrografx officials
based in Richardson, Texas.

Micrografx and IBM are continuing to work on other joint-development
projects for OS/2, the officials said.

The Mirrors code, which was supplied to IBM for inclusion in the August
release of the $299 OS/2 2.0 Developers Migration Kit/2, will be handed
back to Micrografx.  Micrografx plans to double its systems group--from
10 employees to 20--to market, distribute, service, and support Mirrors
and to help third-party developers port 16-bit Windows and 16-bit OS/2
applications to OS/2 2.0's 32-bit environment, officials said.

As part of the Comdex announcement, Micrografx will also announce independent
software vendors (ISVs) and corporate developers that have signed up
for the Mirrors technology. WordPerfect Corp. of Orem, Utah, is slated
to be one of the first ISV's in the program, and Micrografx is also
talking to other leading software makers, company officials said.
...
[
Well, this is good news for the Describe folks, neither WordPerfect
nor AmiPro will be true 32-bit apps.
]
-------------
[PC Week; November 2, 1992; Page 65]
THE LABS GOT A BRAND-NEW BAG

We at PC Week Labs have attended many a fine technical conference, but
it's what you take with you from the conference that really matters.

Lately, we have been taking souvenir canvas bags from these events.
A formal comparison of these bags from these events. A formal comparison
of these bags determined that the IBM OS/2 Developers Conference, held
in New York last month, was the best of the conferences we've visited
in the last six months.

The other conferences--Microsoft's Win32 Developers Conference in early
July and Micro Design Resources' Microprocessor Forum in early October--
produced more interesting and news-worthy technical content but inferior
canvas bags.
...

-------------
[PC Week; November 2, 1992; Page 154]
IBM, PRICE WATERHOUSE STRIKE OS/2 2.0 LICENSING DEAL

IBM last week closed a deal to sell 20,000 licenses for OS/2 2.0 to
accounting firm Price Waterhouse. As part of the deal , IBM  of Armonk,
N.Y., will also provide the firm with DOS and Windows.
Price Waterhouse has more than 35,000 PCs installed worldwide.
...
-------------
[InfoWorld; November 2, 1992; Page 15]
CorelDraw 2.5 ready for OS/2 users

OS/2 2.0 users can now get CorelDraw 2.5 with the same new modules
for charting and painting enjoyed by users of CorelDraw 3.0 on Windows.
Corel Corp. is shipping CorelDraw 2.5 for OS/2 2.0 for $595. Corel
also has dropped the price on the Unix version of Corel Draw from $895
to $595. (800) 836-DRAW.
-------------

See ya in comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy!

Brian
-- 
C. Brian Sturgill                   I strongly encourage you to mail your copy
University of Utah                     of Ross Perot's:  "United We Stand
Center for Software Science            How we can take back our country",
brian@cs.utah.edu; CIS: 70363,1373        to President-elect Clinton.