freak@ihlpa.UUCP (c e malloy) (07/03/85)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** 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.