Jerry's View

Being  Clippings, Comments and Critiques

Number 3

Date: 20DEC93

By: Jerry Golick
Compuserve 71175,1011
Internet: j.golick@genie.geis.com

========================================

Happy holidays everyone. This will be the last View for 1993. I
will be trying to get the next one in INF format (space
permitting).

Thanks to everyone for all their comments and feedback. If you come
across something that you feel should be included send me it here
at Compuserve. I don't promise to put everything in, but I'll try.

Look for JOURNEY.ZIP early in 1994. The story of one person's
journey into OS/2.

**********************
And now,

Once more into the breach. Lots of news and views to report

**********************
Data Communications Magazine (13NOV93)

 pg. 97, For those doing wide area networking with OS/2 you might
want to take a look at this article on IBM's MPTN (Multi-Protocol
Transport Network). If I read it right, MPTN will provide a
solution for those who want access to communication protocols not
supported by their network. For example you can run an APPC
conversation over a TCP/IP network. The OS/2 component is listed at
$170. This could be of great benefit to those deploying
client/server systems. The article also states that MPTN has been
submitted to X/Open for inclusion in XTI (X/Open Transport
Interface) and is getting a favorable response.

pg. 114, Interesting commentary by David C. Hunter about the value
of open vs. closed standards. Near the end he states "SNA works as
an industry standard because it is complete and tightly controlled.
Open standards .... are subject to too much interpretation to
guarantee interoperability"

               ED. Kinda makes you wonder how well UNIX and other
open operating system specifications are going to take hold given
that certain organizations have tight control on closed operating
environments. JG:

*******************
Network World (15NOV93)

pg. 49 - Uniface Corp. announces an OS/2, 32-bit, version of their
model-driven, client/server, application development tool

               ED: Speaking of development tools have you seen
IBM's VisualAge yet? Get the demo disk (its free). This object-
oriented product looks like it could be a real winner. JG:

pg. 50 - editorial by John Rymer on why MS and OMG (Object
Management Group) should bury the hatchet. Among other things he
calls on MS to donate OLE 2.0 to OMG.

               ED: Yes, we know many ISV's are developing for OLE
2.0. This is going to cause big, big trouble for users. JG:

*********************
Computerworld (15NOV93)

pg. 1 - how's this for two headlines "IBM humanizes PCs" and NT
starts slow as users seek more meat". The first article talks about
the "Max Headroom-like" interface that will be available on the
PowerPC based system. It will respond to voice, touch and pen. The
second article indicates that large accounts are asking some really
tough questions about NT before they deploy. It seems that many are
saying that UNIX, Netware and other systems offer a mature
technology today while NT is largely unproved.

pg. 2 - how confused can you get?  The article states that
Microsoft expects to realize its goal of making Windows NT the
"first truly network-independent client in the next half year".
Considering that MS has already stated that NT is now positioned as
a server product (see Jerry's View Number 2) this seems to make
very little sense.

pg. 75 - headline "Windows for Workgroups faces off with Novell" -
the article quotes an internal MS document that states that they
(MS) believe that 30% of all PCs shipped next year will have W4WG
pre-loaded. Given that International Data Corp. is predicting 13.8
million PCs will be sold next year this translates into a whole lot
of W4WG!

               ED: If your looking at W4WG you should also look at
Lotus Notes. JG:

pg. 77 - COSE (Common Open Systems Environment) will probably not
ship CDE (Common Desktop Environment) until mid-1994. CDE is
intended to provide a common "look and feel" across various UNIX
enviroments. 

pg. 143 - if you are interested, and can track down a copy of this
particular issue, there is an in-depth profile of the Pentium vs.
PowerPC chip. Too much detail to cover here but it looks like Intel
has got a race on its hands. 

          ED: Also check out the Jan/94 issue of Byte. Lots of good
things about the RISC chips, OS wars plus news on the MS-Windows
4.0 "beta". More a little later in this View JG:

*******************
Network World  (22NOV93)

pg. 9 - I really want one of these! - PictureTel Corp. announced a
new product that allows users of Lotus Notes and IBM's Person-2-
Person to launch video conferences via point-and-click. 


*********************
Computerworld (22NOV93)

pg. 1 - Headline "Gates offers 32-bit theatrics" - seems that Bill
and Brad Silverberg (leader of Chicago development) gave a brief
demo of Windows 4.0.  "With its installed base becoming so huge,
Microsoft has become like IBM, who was always forced to make small
incremental changes. They should think about how different they
make the user interface. If it's radically different the user's
first inclination will be to set it aside for a while", says one
corporate beta tester (name not given). While the article states
that MS will be trying to give a more document-centric look and
feel what they demonstrated resembled the OS/2 WPS. Bill also
demonstrated that they could "drag and drop" objects from folders
onto the desktop. (ED: is imitation the sincerest form of flattery
or what? JG). John Chapman (Amoco Inc) also expresses some concerns
over how the product will work on systems that do not support the
MS Plug and Play initiative. 

                    ED: Sounds like Windows 4.0 means that you'll
have to go out and buy a whole new set of software for your
machine. Joy. JG:

pg. 1 - MS-Hermes to support Netware clients and servers. Seems
that in early briefings MS made no mention that they would support
Netware. In fact it is not in the current beta version. This
annoyed the Fortune 1000 IS managers who have heterogeneous
environments. On the other hand Novell's NDMS (Netware Distributed
Management System) can already support Win-NT. HP and MS have
announced plans to integrate Hermes with OpenView. BTW- Hermes is
an NT product that will allow software distribution and
configuration management for LANS. OpenView does the same thing for
UNIX enviroments (and others).  In a related story on page 6, IBM,
Digital, HP, and others have all agreed to support Hermes. However
this will not replace IBM's NetView/6000, it will complement it.

pg. 2 - here's a confusing one - MS is expected to announce
technology developed by Digital (and others) that will enable OLE
2.0 to comply with COBRA (Common Object Broker Requester Agent).
Bill indicated that MS will reverse its earlier stance opposed to
such an accommodation between the two specifications. The article
also claims that MS has been having discussions with IBM to offer
interoperablility between DSOM, SOM and OLE 2.0! 

          ED: Can't we all just agree that COBRA is the way to go?
It would make life so much simpler, <sigh>. JG

pg. 10 - News Shorts - IBM SOM and DSOM got a major boost as a
number of object-oriented tool manufacturers have licensed the
technology and will integrate into their products. The list
includes ParcPlace Systems Inc., Digitalk, Inc., Watcom
International Corp., Metaware, Inc., and Objective, Inc. Also
another statement by Bill Gates elaborating on  a major update for
NT next year. It will feature better file server performance in an
effort to compete with Novell's Netware.

pg. 16 - headline "OS/2, AIX, PowerPC critical". In a taped speech
Louis V. Gerstner (Chairman, IBM) said "There is nothing more
critical to us" than OS/2 and AIX. Both Gerstner and James
Cannavino (now senior vice president of strategy and development),
made it clear that they are also committed to Taligent.

pg. 20 - in case you haven't heard it yet - and this is a quote -
"How many Microsoft people does it take to screw in a light bulb?
None. They simply declare darkness a standard"

page 29 - headline "Apple declares micro war" - look for PowerPC
based Macs sometime in the 1st quarter of 1994. They also intend to
run DOS, OS/2, Windows, Windows NT, UNIX and Macintosh on the same
machine. 

                    ED:  Wow! Sounds like their on to something.
Sadly there was no mention of Taligent. Still, do you really want
all these operating systems? All we really need is one. But which?
JG:

pg. 33 - headline "Will we ever land in Cairo?" by John Gantz. Mr.
Gantz (a senior VP with International Data Corp.) states his belief
that we will never see Cairo. He says "I think that Cairo is a
phantom operating system just like Windows NT turned out to be, for
all practical purposes, a phantom desktop operating system.". He
seems to indicate that MS is using Cairo as a way to keep everyone
(i.e.: the other OS vendors) off balance. Another quote "Cairo may
turn up in bits and pieces, but the image of it as the follow-on to
Windows NT is about as substantial as a desert mirage". To be fair
he also states that he feels that IBM's Workplace OS is a Cairo
knockoff.

                    ED: How can Workplace OS be a knockoff when it
will be available BEFORE the now increasingly nebulous Cairo? JG:

pg. 57 - nice article on multimedia - IBM's Ultimedia Video IN/2
gets a great deal of coverage. BTW - in case you haven't heard
Ultimedia IN/2 won top honors at Comdex. See Vicci Conway's
announcement in the Public Image posts for more info. It sounds
great. Also you can set up an Ultimedia Server on a RS/6000 that
will support Mac and Windows users (and of course OS/2).

Editorial - BTW, is it my imagination or has IBM and Apple stock
been going up for the last couple of weeks while MS stock is going
down? I haven't been really tracking it but Computerworld offers a
weekly summary of high tech vendor stock and that seems to be the
trend. Things that make you go hmmm, eh? JG:

*********************
Computerworld (29NOV93)

pg. 12 - headline  "OS shifts draw developers' ire" - seems that at
Comdex someIBM officials were saying that, "..... OS/2 on Intel
Corp-based platforms and AIX on RISC-based platforms should enjoy
long lives and that Workplace OS would not replace them any time
soon." This did not turn on a number of OS/2 developers who are not
sure where they should be directing their efforts. The first
Workplace OS systems will likely be PowerPC based.

                    ED: if you have been following the "OS/2 2.2,
why so quiet?" thread in OS2USER on CIS then you know that a number
of people are concerned with directions of OS/2 and Workplace OS.
MS product strategy is laid out for the next 2-3 years (regardless
if it can be done). What's IBM's strategy? Comments like the one's
refered to above do not help.

pg. 32 - interesting editorial about the "New IBM". Says many
positive things like, "The prospects are excellent in hardware and
software", and, " The PowerPC architecture ...... (will give) a fat
and happy Intel the first threat to its 75% microprocessor market
share." 

                    ED: Let's not get our hopes up quite yet. JG:

pg. 37 - Article on Workplace Shell for DOS - no preemptive tasking
of course but a nice way to make the transition to OS/2.

                    ED: I agree with another point in this article.
Its a shame that IBM was not able to put this into PC-DOS 6.1. It
would have blown the doors off MS-DOS 6.0 <sigh> JG:

pg. 42 - Carole Patton writes a commentary called "OS/2 moves out -
 alone". Overall I though it was positive. She talks about how
"Ferengi" (ED: Indicates that the article was written prior to
OS24W release. JG:) may have a chance to take a significant part of
the MS-Windows base. Here idea is that clone vendors should bundle
it with their DOS/Windows machines since they will not have to pay
twice for the Windows royalty code.

                    ED: I wonder what deal MS will cut with the
clone vendors to bundle Windows 4.0 on their machines? JG:


*********************
Network World (06DEC93)

pg. 1 - headline - "Giants grapple in app server fight" - quote
"While Microsoft and Novell have touted the merits of their
respective candidates, analysts and users agree that the 32-bit,
multitasking OS/2 has quietly come into its own as an application
server."

               ED:  but we knew that already, didn't we? <g> JG:

pg. 1 - MS will have a new version of NT (code named Daytona) in
the first half of  94. Its aim will be all NT to act as a gateway
to Netware servers.

pg. 6 - IBM, and fellow vendors, have completed work on CPI-C Level
2.0. X/OPEN has adopted this for their client/server transaction
processing applications. 

               ED: if you don't know about CPI-C (Common
Programming Interface for Communications), and you are thinking
about any client/server systems, you owe it to yourself to learn
more. Its a very nice piece of pipe JG:

pg. 44 - more on the database interface wars. The author, Richard
Finklestein, makes a strong case for IBM's DRDA (Distributed
Relational Database Architecture), while citing problems in the
areas of vendor support, access to non-relational databases, and
complex installations, the conclusions is that DRDA is a reliable,
low cost, high performance approach for linking local database
servers to mainframes.

**********************
Computerworld  (06DEC93)

pg1 - headline "Security woes dull OLE luster" - IF YOU ARE
THINKING ABOUT USING OLE 2.0 READ THIS! Seems that there is a bit
of a backdoor problem with OLE 2.0. When you grab what you think is
a simple document it may contain embedded objects (i.e.: code) that
may do you, and your workstation, a great deal of harm. Since any
embedded objects are executed when you open the object, you have
little protection against this form of virus spread. With OLE 2.0
viruses now have a new way to come at you... though your documents.
The solution as proposed by Joel Diamond, technology director of
the Windows User Group Network, is "...... only one in 10,000 users
is conversational enough in OLE and electronic mail or networks to
accomplish it".

               ED: Well, with words of confidence like that I can
really sleep easy tonight.  Can you imagine getting a copy of a
document that had an embedded "delete *.*" in it? Pass the word,
this is IMPORTANT! JG:

pg. 12 - I just had to include this - In an article on the status
of OSF/DCE integration (which is slowly gathering steam), Erin
Contorer, lead program manager of Windows NT Systems, says that the
reason that NT will not support the full DCE client is because ....
are you ready for this?..... IT TAKES UP TOO MUCH RAM!!! Given NT's
massive RAM requirements I can understand why they would not want
to increase the amount required.

               ED: Meanwhile full OSF/DCE client support is
available on OS/2 today. JG:

BTW - for those interested the in-depth report in this issue of
Computerworld discusses a global survey done by X/OPEN on the
status of open systems. Too much stuff to cover here.

=========================

Other news and views:

     Check out this month's copy of Network Computing magazine. It
has extensive coverage of Windows NT. Bottom line is NT = Nice Try,
Not Today. Its worth getting a copy just for some of the NT jokes
at the beginning.

     On the other hand a five vendor panel at the Technologic
Partners conference in San Fransico (as reported by Computerworld)
gave UNIX, Chicago, and NT a "perfect 5.0" compared to a rating of
2.5 for OS/2. No details on what this was about but the panel
consisted of Clarify, D&B Software, Gupta, IMRS and PeopleSoft.
Talk about bias by vendors!

     Get the first issue of OS/2 Magazine. 'Nuff said.

     Heard about IBM's Personal Dictation System? 90-95% accuracy
,speaker-independent, continuos speech, for under $1000. Can you
imagine handling all your e-mail by voice?!!! From what I know the
system allows you to dictate to an audio clipboard and then paste
the results into the word processor of your choice. Its due out
around 2/94. I've ordered mine already. Its going to change the
world.

     I normally would not say anything about the commercial mags
since you can get them yourselves at the local store. However, I
want to mention two of them in passing. First, the JAN/94 issue of
BYTE. It contains some excellent articles about the OS Wars, has
detailed information about the microkernel architecture, and lots
more. Its treatment of OS/2, relative to the  other operating
systems, was, IMHO, fair. The issue also has the BYTE Awards of
Excellence which you should check out. All in all a good read. I
had left BYTE for a couple of years but I will be sending them a
check soon.

     At the other extreme we have the JAN/94 issue of Windows
Magazine. I am at a loss for words. Anything I say will probably be
taken as an unfair attack on this mag. In short the article provide
an "in-depth" look at the Windows 4.0 "alpha prototype". Further in
the same mag there is an article on OS/2 and Windows NT going head
to head. I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. I am not sure that
I am suggesting buying a copy (save your money for an OS/2-based
magazine) but you might want to track down a copy to read. The sad
fact is, that I believe, many people do read Windows Magazine.

On a positive note I heard rumors to the effect that OS/2 will have
shipped 5 million units by the end of 1995. Ambra has finally
started bundling OS/2 on their high-end machines. We will be
getting SMP early in 1994. And speaking of 1994, we will be one
year closer to Taligent. Windows NT is not doing to well, and for
all the talk about Windows 4.0 you can't buy the thing yet. 
There's bunches of freeware, shareware and commercial ware for
OS/2. There are great support tools (check out the Developer's
Connection CD or the OS/2 Online Books CD).  And, if half the
rumors are true, the next 12 months should see some awesome new
stuff for OS/2.

So if 1993 was the year that OS/2 gained respectability let's make
1994 the year that OS/2 kicks butt.  Make it happen!

Happy Holidays again. All the best to all of you. 

Be seeing you,
Jerry