OS/2 2.1 Hits Retail Shelves

June 14, 1993

Following four weeks during which telephone orders poured in by the thousands, IBM's OS/2* 2.1 became generally available today in retail stores throughout the country.

IBM's award-winning 32-bit operating system was announced May 18 to critical acclaim for customers looking for a proven, reliable, powerful operating system that runs DOS, Windows** and OS/2 applications. In addition to being faster and more powerful than version 2.0, new features in OS/2 2.1 include 32-bit graphics, built-in multimedia function and support for Windows 3.1 applications.

At the Egghead Software retail store in Austin, Texas, where special promotions are taking place, response has been overwhelming, according to store manager Brian Dougherty.

"There was literally a line around the store before we opened," Dougherty said. "OS/2 and OS/2 applications appear to be very popular with our customers."

IBM Personal Software Products Director of Marketing Wally Casey said, "OS/2 is actually three products in one - you get DOS and Windows in the same box. Today the retail shelves are stocked with the only 32-bit Intel system that can run all your DOS, Windows and OS/2 applications, and the built-in multimedia features make it a fun system to run. It's a product for everyone."

While OS/2 is becoming available today for retail customers, larger IBM customers are readying their OS/2 implementations. Southern California Gas Co. has developed several client/server applications in the last two years and chose OS/2 because of its preemptive multitasking and industrial strength communications capabilities.

"OS/2 2.1 offers our users an easy migration to an advanced desktop operating system without having to give up their existing applications," said Robert Holmes, research analyst for Southern California Gas. "Our developers get an excellent development environment with advanced features like the WorkPlace Shell, which gives users and developers the capability to organize their work in a natural way."

Customers have been able to order OS/2 2.1 by calling 1-800-3IBM-OS2. The list price is $249, with a 90-day promotional offering of $99 for CD-ROM and $119 for diskettes starting today for users ordering upgrades. In addition, users who upgrade from previous versions of OS/2 can receive a $30 rebate. In retail stores, OS/2 2.1 is expected to be available at an even lower cost to users.

OS/2 momentum has been building since the introduction of Version 2.0 14 months ago. Since that time more than 2 million copies have been shipped and more than 1,300 industry applications have been delivered. In response to customer demand, major vendors such as Computer Associates, Information Builders Inc., Lotus Development Corp. and WordPerfect Corp. are releasing 32-bit OS/2 versions of their products, and hardware vendors such as AST, UNISYS and Northgate are pre-loading OS/2 on their machines.

* Indicates trademark or registered trademark of the International Business Machines Corporation. ** Indicates trademark or registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.