tkevans@fallst.UUCP (Tim Evans) (07/18/88)
From the July 8 issue of "Government Computer News"
FUTURE OS/2 MAY COMPLY WITH POSIX
By Darryl K. Taft
GCN Staff
Microsoft Corp. has begun to develop a version of OS/2 that
will comply with the Posix application-to-operating system
interface and has begun talks with National Bureau of
Standards Institute for Computer Sciences and Technology
officials to discuss what is needed to make OS/2 meet the
government's Posix standards, a source close to the talks
said.
However, this work remains in a "very preliminary" stage,
the source said, noting that Microsoft plans to work
harder to meet federal government needs that it has in
the past.
Asked to verify this development strategy, William Lowe,
president of IBM Corp.'s Entry Systems Division, said,
"We and Microsoft are focused on that requirement [Posix
in OS/2], and we believe it is an important requirement.
IBM has worked with Microsoft in developing OS/2.
A Posix-compliant OS/2 could play a major role in future
government procurements in light of huge multiuser buys
recently, such as the Air Force's AFCAC 251 and Desktop III.
One drawback to a Posix-compliant OS/2 lies in OS/2's
single-user orientation. The Posix interface standard is
derived from UNIX, a multiuser operating system. Microsoft
"will comply with Posix through UNIX first" and will support
Posix on the Intel 80386 chip," the source said.
IBM's Low told GCN earlier this year that a 386-specific version
of OS/2 is in the works but declined to say when it will
arrive.
"Posix is creating an awful lot of confusion in the market
and in the government. No one can say right now that they
have a Posix product. Somewhat like OS/2, Posix is new; it's a
moving target," the source said, noting that the Posix
standardization process is continuing.
"The government needs productive tools to do its job, and it
wishes to be able to procure these in a 'non-protestable'
manner, the source said.
"The goal of Posix is to define a standard interface to dif-
ferent operating systems, though right now it's focused on
UNIX and on a particular brand of UNIX," the source said,
referring to the standard's promise of operating system
independence.
In addition, the source said, one big issue determining
the speed of arrival for a Posix OS/2 is whether federal
agencies interpret the Federal Information Processing
Standard as applying to commercial off-the-shelf application
software in addition to in-house and custom-built applications.
Though agencies seem to be hungrily awaiting it, the interim
Posix FIPS will not be mandatory, the source said.
Vendors with a stake in the future of OS/2 talked to several
hundred federal customers as a recent OS/2 seminar hosted by
Bohdan Associates, Inc. of Gaithersburg, MD.
Users can expect to see enhanced performance and efficiency
using menus in new OS/2 applications, said Chuck Sullivan,
product introduction programs manager at Lotus Development
Corp. The unified menu structure of the forthcoming Presenta-
tion Manager graphical interface of OS/2 will be a boost to the
operating system and applications for it, Sullivan said.
Database applications and network servers will be among the
flood of OS/2-supporting products, said Alan Kessler, pro-
duct manager for 3Com Corp., Santa Clara, Calif. "You'll begin
to see a lost less people working on their own," he said.
"OS/2 provides an industry standard way of playing by the rules
in multitasking. It's an industry standard way of doing one
thing at a time," Kessler said.
Sam Jadallah, a Microsoft senior systems engineer, said his
company has seen lots of government interest in OS/2 "across
the board" and expects that interest to grow as more and more
applications are developed for the operating system.
With a show of raised hands, nearly a third of the crowd of
400 expressed interest in considering OS/2 for their organiza-
tions. The federal government represented about 60 percent of
the crowd, a Bohdan representative said.
OS/2 has two main goals, Jadallah said: a consistent "look and
feel" to minimize training costs and shifting users' attention
away from the application's intricacies to getting the job done.
"It's sort of the rental car theory. When you rent a car you go
in knowing how to drive it, and though it's not like your own,
you still know how to use it to get to where you're going, he said.
"OS/2 is designed for the hardware we're seeing in the world
today. User needs have also changed. Users are looking for
multitasking and access to databases on mainframes, Jadallah said.
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