From: jurlwin@gandalf.UMCS.Maine.EDU (Jeff Urlwin)
Subject: Re: OS/2 and NT at Comdex
Organization: University of Maine, Department of Computer Science
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 14:43:41 GMT

In article <OLAVT.92Dec10113829@ulrik.uio.no> olavt@ulrik.uio.no (Olav Torvund) writes:
>In article <1992Dec9.211907.19367@fcom.cc.utah.edu> brian@jaguar.cs.utah.edu (Brian Sturgill) writes:
>
>
>   The question that remains is why?  I mean if OS/2 has shipped 1 million
>   or 2 million or whatever numbers of copies, why haven't ISVs came around?
>   My only guess is that OS/2 doesn't really have many desktop users, otherwise
>   I cannot believe the market would be ignored.

Why, you ask?  When MS charged thousands of dollars (2000) for the needed
SDK, and then BAILED?  Unfortunately, OS/2 got the bad label because:

a)  It didn't do what the users needed it to do (run the same old apps,
    until they could get used to new ones OR better versions of the same
    app....i.e.  there was no migration path to OS/2, just a jump over a 
    pretty big wall.  This was, IMHO, both IBM's and MS's fault.

    2.0 solves this and *is* gaining momentum, even in
    the developer community.   

b)  MS charged so much for the tools to build APPS, the shareware authors
    and small companies didn't/couldn't risk the time and resources until
    they could see OS/2 as a success.  Now MS is charging paltry amounts
    for the tools, because they realized that charging so much for the tools
    to help build the support they NEED is crazy.  Would your local
    polititian charge you to attend a rally?  

c)  MS BAILED out of OS/2 and left the ones who WERE developing out a LOT
    of $$$$ (resources, SDK, etc...), yet the name of OS/2 was marred,
    not MS (as much).  Then they create a new product (NT) to compete with
    what they left in the dust?  I wonder why developers are (seemingly) 
    so enthusiastic about working with NT.  IBM stuck with OS/2 and made
    it a viable solution for many.  Yes, not all, but many.  No system
    will be the best for all.  

    What will happen to NT people, if it doesn't capture the market like
    MS wants?  Will MS switch back to OS/2?  I don't think so, but...
    maybe in five years we'll see RNT (Really New Technology). :)
    
>   The lack of good developers tools hurts too.

True, but people are working on this.  I have found the CSet/2 compiler to
be quite good (not up to a Borland or M$ par, yet, but good -- better than
some other C compilers I've had to use...)

Now, I have another question for all those NTites.  Why/How could anyone
even begin to believe MS, when they announced NT late this year and NOW
it's slipped to summer of next year.  Is this just a marketing ploy to
stem the growth of OS/2 developer and user support?  I'm just asking,
I'm not stating it is or isn't.  I would suspect that only a few people
*really* know.

Whatever the case, I'm sure NT will be a solid, viable OS.  If nothing
else OS/2 and NT create competition for the PC OS market that will,
I believe, create a much better environment for us, the users.

Jeff



-- 
--------------------------------------
jurlwin@gandalf.umcs.maine.edu

Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.advocacy