OS/2 Warp Weekly Newsletter - 1995-09-29
THE OS/2 WARP WEEKLY - A production of PSP Worldwide Marketing Support Covering information relevant to OS/2 Warp and LAN Server The 9/29/95 Issue (A real collector's item) The OS/2 Warp Weekly and OS/2 Warp Monthly Newsletters are available on the Internet at http://www.austin.ibm.com/pspinfo/newsletters.html
WHY I CHOSE OS/2 (SEVENTH IN A SERIES)
Why are people choosing OS/2 Warp instead of Windows? These answers, which come from a wide range of computer users, cut through the hype.
Because of its Ease of Use ==========================
Russell Judd Manager, IS Development Great Lakes Higher Ed. Corp.
"OS/2's object-oriented graphical user interface provides an easy-to-use platform which, with multitasking, has helped to reduce our development cycle time significantly. What we're really excited about is that it is making our end-users, many of whom are PC novices, become much more proficient on PCs. In fact, some of them are almost turning into power users, using OS/2's built-in tools and applets to solve problems on their own."
BOTTOM LINE: OS/2 Warp's award-winning graphical user interface is object oriented, allowing users at every level to increase their productivity.
Because of its scalability ==========================
Jim Steinbiser Director, App. Development General Public Utilities
"OS/2 Warp offers us a common look and feel across several different platforms. It's everywhere, from our laptops in our trucks to our desktop clients and SMP servers in the office. We even plan to put it on our PDAs in the future. It's nice to be able to run your applications across your platforms seamlessly."
BOTTOM LINE: OS/2 Warp scales across platforms as a client or a server with a single API.
YET ANOTHER ACCOLADE FOR OS/2 WARP SERVER
In yet another glowing review for OS/2 Warp Server, Wayne Rash had many positive things to say about the product in Computer Week's September 25 issue. Here are some excerpts from his article entitled "Warping Your Server":
After looking at IBM's plans for the server market, it's clear that Microsoft won't be sleeping easy. Adding considerable functionality is the fact that Warp Server uses the capability developed for Warp Connect to communicate with both Novell Inc. and Microsoft networks on their own terms. Some new tools add to Warp Server's ease of use. For example there's a backup and recovery utility called PSNS that uses a plumbing approach with pipes and valves on the screen.... It sounds weird, but surprisingly intuitive.... There's a vastly improved print manager that automatically handles translations between PostScript and non-Postscript printing. It also can direct print jobs to mainframe printers and run high-speed, industrial strength printers at full speed.... Warp Server correctly identified the hardware suites we tried it on, including network and video cards that had stumped its predecessor.... Windows95 client installs using the Windows add-software function which means that product is listed in the registry and can be removed easily if needed. The Warp Server's network management tools including backup and restore and IBM's SystemView for OS/2 Warp, are well designed and easy to use....... If this prerelease version is an accurate indication, Warp Server could be a real winner for IBM, and a solid answer to companies that need a stable OS/2 application platform.
STARDOCK'S OBJECT DESKTOP IS HERE
Stardock Systems will begin shipping its Object Desktop on October 2, 1995 . Targeting both the corporate and retail markets, Object Desktop is an advanced desktop environment that "turbo-charges" OS/2, improving performance, flexibility, and ease of use.
Object Desktop enhances the existing OS/2 environment with updated icons, frame controls, and command buttons, and adds new tools designed to boost productivity and system performance. The new features include the Object Navigator, Control Center, Keyboard LaunchPad, Object Archives, and HyperDrive and HyperCache features.
"I haven't been this excited about a product since OS/2 Warp itself." said David Barnes, Senior Marketing Manager at IBM Personal Software Products. "My competitors recently released a product that has some nice features. But Object Desktop gave me everything they have and a lot more (and on a more solid foundation--OS/2 Warp). Object Desktop will be the first thing I install on any of my systems from now on."
Site licensing and wholesale pricing sheets can be obtained from Stardock at 313-453-0328 (fax 313/453-1480).
ON TECHNOLOGY ANNOUNCES OS/2 SUPPORT FOR MEETING MAKER XP
ON Technology Corporation has expanded its Meeting Maker XP family of group scheduling software with a new, 32-bit client and server application for OS/2 users. Meeting Maker XP is a popular group-scheduling product for Macintosh, Power Mac, Windows, Power PC, and DOS platforms. The new release of Meeting Maker XP is aimed at organizations and workgroups that require software solutions for a multi-platform computing environment. Meeting Maker XP supports the industry's leading network protocols -- TCP/IP, Novell IPX, Appletalk, NetBIOS. As a client/server application, Meeting Maker XP can serve the new OS/2 clients as well as any of the existing client platforms from a single server, providing true enterprise group scheduling. While the OS/2 clients capitalize on the inherent characteristics of their operating system, the Meeting Maker functions and interface are consistent across all platforms to simplify administration and use.
For more information on Meeting Maker XP call 617-374-1400 or visit the ON Technology home page at http://www.on.com, or send inquiries to info@on.com.
OS/2 WARP REMAINS CHINA'S "PREFERRED STANDARD"
As we reported here several weeks ago, China's Ministry of Electronic Industries (MEI) has endorsed OS/2 Warp as China's "preferred standard" computing platform. The Ministry has indicated that Windows 95 is an "acceptable standard" for use in China, but OS/2 Warp remains the country's preferred standard.
Under Microsoft's agreement with MEI, Microsoft has agreed to adhere to Chinese API standards. They will not be involved in any API standard development with MEI. IBM is working with the Chinese government to actually develop those standards.
WARP'D HUMOR
Excuse me for butting in, but I'm interrupt-driven
PSP TO CONSOLIDATE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT IN AUSTIN
IBM's Personal Software Products Division announced that it is consolidating software development and product service activities from Boca Raton to Austin, Texas.
"By bringing the development teams for the OS/2 base operating system, user interface and multimedia capabilities currently working in Boca together with the LAN Server, Warp Server, objects, and microkernel development teams now working in Austin, we enable them to work more closely as an integrated team," said John W. Thompson, General Manager, Personal Software Products division.
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