CI Labs: The OpenDoc Nexus

Apple Computer developed OpenDoc and is its biggest proponent. However, the intent from the beginning of the project was to create a cross-platform, industry-standard framework. It was with that intent that the three parties most committed to OpenDoc (Apple, IBM, and Novell) formed Component Integration Labs (CI Labs for short) to be the watchdog of the OpenDoc specification. Since then, other companies, including Adobe, Lotus Development, The Object Management Group, Oracle, and Taligent, have joined to foster this new standard.

Apple Computer has created OpenDoc on the Macintosh in conjunction with Novell/WordPerfect (for Windows) and IBM (for OS/2). The development cycle has typically b een to produce a milestone product release on the Mac and then port it to Windows and OS/2.

As this article was being written, Novell announced it was transferring the OpenDoc development effort over to IBM. IBM has announced plans to deliver a beta version of OpenDoc for Windows 95/NT during the first quarter of 1996 and a final production release by the end of the year. The company remains committed to its delivery of the OS/2 Warp version by the end of 1995. This means that a Windows version will not be available until a full year after the delivery of the Mac and OS/2 versions.

Novell has reiterated its commitment to using OpenDoc as a development platform and supporting OpenDoc in future releases of its products, including NetWare. However, this break from the actual development of the OpenDoc framework, at a time so close to the initial OpenDoc release from Apple, raises the question of how quickly the cross-platform functionality can be delivered.

You can contact CI Labs at P.O. Box 61747, Sunnyvale, CA 94088; E-mail: info@cilabs.org ; World Wide Web: http://www.cilabs.org .