SWITZERLAND REPORT


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

ORBIT FAIR IN BASEL

In September, the biggest Swiss computer fair was held in Basel. One of the major IBM attractions was the newly announced AS/400 series. Beside some other things, that are well-known from IBM, I found some machines with OS/2 running on it. IBM didn't show or mention anything about OS/2. After the show, which closes officially at 6, IBM showed the WorkSpace on Demand, capable of running anything an office requires. You might know already a lot about WSOD, so I tried to find out who created this awful product name. Unfortunately I failed. All I could find out, is that there is obviously nobody within IBM (and outside, of course) who likes this creation. If you like it, let me know. Unfortunately, the WSOD presentation was only done for invited guests only and we all hope that IBM will not treat the product itself in the same way. This year I only visited the fair on a single day, so I couldn't check everything and more hidden gems could have been presented by other companies.

ORBIT FAIR, THE OTHER SIDE

During my walk around the fair, I met an old friend, who was demonstrating his latest products. Unfortunately (for him), he was running his software on a W95 system. The machine was crashing all the time and as far as I understood, he's not going to sell his product this way. Most likely he will not take the most stable base-product available, but perhaps that might come later.

READERS FROM EVERYWHERE

In the past, I received e-mails from Japan, South-Africa and other countries. This time a note from Norway. It's good to know, that OS/2 users can be found anywhere in the world. The e-mail concerned the Papyrus word processor. As soon as I hear anything about an international version (of course in cooperation with Oliver Minzloff) you will read it here.

A GOOD REASON FOR MISSING OTHER OS/2 NEWS

Due to my holiday, during which I wrote the column this time, there's nothing left for me to let you know. This of course, does not mean, that nothing is happening here in Switzerland. Just remember the OS/2 Forum, that will be presented by the OS/2 User Association on October 21st and the OS/2 Seminar that will be held by COMMON Switzerland.

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).

EDITOR's NOTE: Rene is scheduled to be married on October 21st. We offer Rene and his wife to be our heartiest congratulations and wish him much happiness in the years to come.