EDITORIAL PAGE


JAVA, JAVA EVERYWHERE, BUT NOT A DROP TO DRINK

September will mark one year since OS/2 Warp 4 (code-named "Merlin") was released. As you may recall, one of the major marketing ploys by IBM was to tout it as the first Java enabled operating system. Since IBM couldn't stem the tide to Windows 95 (or NT) in terms of native applications, they shifted their entire strategy to Java ("write once, run anywhere"). The strategy sounded good (and still does), except for the fact that there are very few, if any, fully-tested "pure" Java apps on the market. And frankly, I don't see many coming down the pike this year (except maybe for Corel's offering).

It has only been in the last few weeks that the public has been made aware of the IBM Java Development Kit 1.1 for OS/2 and the formal release of IBM's VisualAge for Java, not forgetting Oberon Software's new Java development toolkit (these products are described in more detail in the News section of OS/2 CONNECT. Although these products are indeed welcomed, is it too little, too late for OS/2?

Through our OS/2 Suggestion Box we have received several good ideas for improving the product, both minor and major. Those that have particularly caught my eye were: improved SMP support, enhanced SIQ (Synchronous Input Queue), and of course Win32 support. It is this last item that IBM flat out refuses to address and is the Achilles' heel of OS/2. I understand their position that they do not want to have to support an ever-changing Win32 API specification, but they can't ignore the enormous number of people, both business and home users, that are becoming attached to the Microsoft Office suite. Although Java represents the future of computing, IBM should at least provide Win32 support in OS/2 for MS Office. This alone would stop a lot of people from blindly rushing off to MS fantasyland.

LAST CALL?

In all likelihood, this will probably be the last time we will produce the Product Priority List. It is not that it is hard to put together (it isn't), its just that IBM gives the impression that it couldn't care less about it, which to me implies they have a tendency to reject customer input. This is consistent with their abandonment of the SOHO (Small Office/Home Owner) market.

I often receive questions asking what IBM's marketing strategy is (one is even included in the Sound OFF! section of this issue). Let me sum it up: Java and Thin Client ("Bluebird"). Anything else at this time is considered irrelevant. Unless someone can give me a compelling reason to continue it, I don't see any reason for perpetuating the "Product Priority List," something the vendor will continue to ignore. "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink it."

On the positive side, one of the best customer initiatives since last year's "Connect the World with Merlin" event is the upcoming "Warpstock 97" scheduled for October 25-26, 1997 in Southern California. The nice thing about this event is that it runs in sharp contrast to IBM's "big business" mentality. The Warpstock slogan sums it up: "the place to be for SOHO and individual OS/2 users to Turn on, tune in, and Warp out!"

Be sure to check out the Warpstock 97 web page at http://www.warpstock.org/. For more information, please send e-mail to: phethmon@hethmon.com

Keep the faith.

- Tim Bryce
Editor, OS/2 CONNECT

Copyright © MBA 1997