SWITZERLAND REPORT


by Rene B. Sloot
Oberwil, Switzerland
rbsloot@ibm.net

OK, you win - I lose

At least, that was what I read in the "Tages Anzeiger," one of Switzerland's main daily newspapers on July 10. According to William Etherington, head of IBM Europe, IBM admits, they lost the SOHO battle. If you read the headline and nothing else, you have to believe IBM says: "OS/2 is dead." Is that true? NO. Bill Etherington also says, in the same interview, IBM will concentrate on the commercial business and now the journalists think this is something really new. If you read the c.o.o.advocacy newsgroup, you will see the many complaints about IBM's (non-existant) OS/2 marketing. We all know, that especially in this environment there doesn't seem to be an IBM PR department. Talking with IBM employees, I heard the slogan "OS/2 is not our only product." OK, that's true, but according to what can be seen in different media NT seems to be an IBM product now and as far as can/must be understood. IBM's management really believes in this.

You want some more about IBM's management in the past? Remember April 2, 1987? IBM announced OS/2 and PS/2. One of the major things I remember is one of IBM's managers (think he works for Xerox now) saying, that if anyone copies the Microchannel architecture, IBM's lawyers will get into action. That sentenced PS/2 to death. Remember the Baby Blue's? That was the time, all IBM departments started to fight each other, not because they wanted to, but because management told them to.

A day after this article appeared in the press, e-mails were sent in some of the major Swiss Banks, saying: have you read this? Isn't IBM aware, that talking about the SOHO market in the press also reaches the management of those enterprises they would like to invest in OS/2?

OK, I win - you lose

Why is the AS/400 so successful? As far as I can see, its because the don't care about the management. They just do a very good job. Any manager coming to Rochester with nothing but changes in mind, will have to admit that the only change that happens, is that they change their mind themselves. They created the Network Station (formerly Thin Client) without asking anybody and Glen Batalden and his team did a very good job. Due to all the success and a perfectly organized production plant, Rochester took over the production of the RS/6000 systems. Do you know, who does the major PowerPC design? Yes, its Rochester. With all this success in mind, wouldn't it be nice if IBM would hand over OS/2 to Rochester with a simple order: Make it a success. I'm sure they can do it.

At the Common European Congress last month in Strasbourg, I had the opportunity to meet Bill Etherington. No word was spent on IBM withdrawing OS/2. Instead we spoke about the Rochester success and that's one of the reasons, I believe they could do the job.

Applications needed? Here's Papyrus!

A couple of weeks ago I installed the Papyrus word processor. Currently its only available in German, but an English version is coming up soon. Its not a monster like the usual suites we all know. It fits on one diskette. It starts faster than OS/2's own editor and it really supports voice type. If you have the chance to try it, do so. As you may know, 85% of the usual word processor functions will never be used and you will not find these on the Papyrus diskette. In the readme file, that comes with the program, you get the promise that support and development will continue in the future. If no update comes within a year, you will get your money back. I admit, you will not get back a lot of money, because you didn't pay much.

Applications needed? OS/2 Essentials 2 is coming

Keep an eye on the Stardock home page and you should see the availability of this product very soon.

Contacts needed in Switzerland? Send a pager or SMS message

You can download SwissPager/2 from the Minzloff Data home page (www.minzdat.ch). It works with mobile phones (SMS), numerical and alphanumerical pagers.

Applications needed? Where is WordPro?

On March 5, 1997 I ordered the new Lotus WordPro and Freelance 96 for OS/2. It was a special offer for members of the Swiss OS/2 User Association. The offer would have been very good, if Lotus would have sent the products. Until today I haven't heard anything from Lotus. Reading the newsgroups, there is a WordPro word processor on the market, at least in the US. Lotus Europe doesn't want to sell anything for OS/2! Is that true?

A new dress for a dead body?

OS/2 is not dead at all. Would you buy a new dress for a dead person? So why should IBM make another FixPak for a dead OS/2? The only reason is, that OS/2 is alive and doing very well on a lot of machines. The beta testing of FP2 is going on and IBM didn't state a GA date, but beta-testing always meant that a product is coming soon. Unlike others, IBM doesn't sell the beta as a full product.

Please do not hesitate to send me any news and information pertaining to Switzerland you would like mentioned in this column. I'll take correspondence in English, German and Dutch (and will respond in the same language).

- Rene B. Sloot


Rene is an AS/400 technical consultant, an IBM Certified OS/2 Engineer, and a proponent of OS/2 on the PC. Rene also serves on the board of directors for the 'COMMON Switzerland' (AS/400 user group).