OS/2 on the PowerPC Slated for This Year

D.A.

As Microsoft continues development on Windows Chicago and Daytona (a new version of Windows NT with a smaller RAM requirement), and Apple works to add multithreading to System 7.5, IBM is working on new versions of its operating systems as well.

By the end of the year, IBM plans to release its first Microkernel-based Workplace OS product for the PowerPC, which is in essence OS/2 running on the PowerPC. OS/2 for the PowerPC was slated to enter beta testing in June.

IBM says it is now in beta testing of a symmetric multiprocessing version of OS/2 that it hopes to release this summer. "Eight-MB systems would be comfortable running this," says Ayodele Anise, OS/2 SMP development manager.

IBM also has plans for a trimmed-down, faster version of OS/2 fo r Intel, but executives were mum on further details. A representative would say only that "IBM is starting to customize OS/2 for specific needs."

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IBM OS strategy

1994                    1995                    1996
OS/2 2.x                OS/2 1995               OS/2 1996
(OS/2 for Intel)        (OS/2 for Intel)        (OS/2 for Intel)
"Lite" version          Taligent layers         Taligent R2 layers
SMP version             Full DCE
Distributed SOM-
objects II
OpenDoc
Security
Systems Management
Plug and Play


Workplace OS                    Workplace OS            Workplace OS
(OS/2 for the PowerPC)          (OS/2 for the PowerPC)  (OS/2 for the PowerPC)
OS/2 2.x on the IBM             Taligent layers         Taligent R2 layers
Microkernel                     Full DCE
Integrated Pen/Speech           SMP