IBM pulling plug on OS/2 for PPC?
Tony Molina
IBM limits OS/2 for PowerPC
By Mary Jo Foley
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IBM will take the first step toward pulling the plug on OS/2 for the PowerPC
this week when it announces the first release will be available by special order
only.
Claiming to make good on its promise to deliver the first release before the end
of 1995, IBM will announce immediate availability of the developers' release of
the product, formally called Warp Connect, PowerPC Edition. But the product will
be available only by a process known as Internal Programming Request for Price
Quotation.
This policy requires customers to order the product through their sales
representatives, who in turn have to request it from the development lab. The
product will not be kept readily available in stock or be distributed through
retailers and OEMs, as is the practice with other OS/2 versions, officials said.
IBM was planning to follow up the developers' release with at least one desktop
and server release of OS/2 for the PowerPC, code-named Falcon 2 and Hawk,
respectively. Both were due to ship in 1997, but IBM put its commercial delivery
plans for these operating systems on hold, officials confirmed. Company
officials maintain they intend to enable future versions of Warp to run on Intel
Corp. or PowerPC systems by moving to a common-code base.
"If there is market demand for a version of OS/2 for the PowerPC, we will
deliver it," said IBM PSP (Personal Software Products) division spokesman Joe
Stunkard. "But in 1996, the focus for OS/2 will be on Intel only."
Another IBM official, who requested anonymity, said, "IBM has closed all lab
development of OS/2 for the PowerPC. Recently, IBM decided to change the C
run-time for the product, and it blew everything out of the water. The
developers' release was left unable to work. Now, the product is on the shelf
for at least one-and-a-half years," said the official.
Since few users own PowerPC hardware, they weren't shedding tears for OS/2 for
the PowerPC. "OS/2 for the PowerPC is not really of interest to us. We're
staying with our Intel investment," said Jim Miller, operations manager of the
information systems department of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, in St. Louis.
IBM has reassigned Jon Schwarz, formerly head of OS/2 for PPC development, to a
marketing position within PSP, in Austin, Texas, said sources.
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