A.N.A.L.O.G. TCS #1
c e malloy
001 03/20/85 DRI SHIPS GEM
Digital Research Inc.'s (DRI) new Graphics Environment Manager (GEM) system
software was shipped as scheduled to original-equipment manufacturers
(OEMs) February 28, the company announced March 11, 1985.
The concept of a graphics user interface was first developed for the Xerox
Star, then used on the Apple Lisa and Macintosh, and now used on GEM
software. GEM runs on any computer based on the Intel 8086 family of
microprocessors and the MS-DOS or Concurrent DOS operating system.
"Now that GEM has shipped, an extremely large number of personal computer
users will have access to the latest user-interface technology," said John
Rowley, president of Digital Research. "And they can be assured of a wide
range of application programs as more than 350 independent software vendors
(ISVs) worldwide have been trained to write GEM application software.
The following OEMs have received GEM software for use with selected models
of their personal computers -- Applied Computer Techniques / Apricot Inc.,
Northern Telecom, CONTEL/CADO, Texas Instruments, Epson America and
Commodore. Digital Research has also transported GEM to run on Atari's new
line of ST computers based on the Motorola 68000 microprocessor. Other OEM
agreements are in progress with manufacturers of both high- and low-end
microcomputers.
In addition, a number of ISVs are writing applications to GEM. These
include Lifetree Software, Spinnaker Software, Thorn EMI, Hayden Software
and Sierra On-Line. Their products span a range of applications from
educational software to office-automation programs.
Active ISV Support
To provide ISVs with the level of support they need to produce GEM-based
software, DRI offers a comprehensive ISV program. Included in the GEM
Programmer Support service are the GEM programmer's toolkit, which contains
GEM software and a complete IBM PC development environment, a toll-free
number for technical support and a Compuserve account to keep ISVs up to
date on GEM. The price of these tools and support is $500.
GEM-based applications will run on any system equipped with GEM. ISVs can
license unlimited distribution rights from DRI to bundle GEM software for
the IBM PC family and 100 percent compatibles with their applications for
$1000 per year per title.