OS/2 Warp and IBM's Workspace on Demand

Product: OS/2 Warp 4.1 and WSOD
Release date: TBD (Q1'99 expected)
WSOD Price: US$995
Summary: Warp's not dead, despite a leaked IBM document that some say proof is that IBM is abandoning OS/2. We tested the forthcoming "Aurora" release of Warp, due next week.

Since Warp 4 shipped in Nov. 1996, IBM has radically altered its positioning of the product. Once touted and sold as a viable alternative to Windows 95, Warp is now primarily positioned as a Server and environment for running mission-critical desktop apps.

Indeed, since the Nov. 1996 reorganization of IBM's PSP division responsible for OS/2 desktop products effectively amounted to "PSP closing its doors," (PSP was the Austin, Texas-based group charged with developing, marketing, and maintaining OS/2 in all its forms), OS/2's future had been in some doubt.

Back in 1997, we noted that IBM had stated that it did not plan to continue to enhance OS/2 as a consumer desktop. Instead, IBM said it planned to make Workspace on Demand the preferred client and establish Warp Server as IBM's server operating system. And, true to its word, a new version of Warp Server with this capability is still on target for delivery (in beta) at the end of 1998, with an anticipated Q1'99 release.

IBM's next release of OS/2 Warp Server is code-named Aurora. Currently in beta testing (sign up at www.software.ibm.com/os/warp/aurora/), the new operating system features the capability to assign users to both NT and OS/2 groups using either a drag-and-drop or command line interface. The co-existence between the two platforms, says IBM will allow users to have access to both NT and OS/2 resources with a single logon. The Computer Paper has been working with a beta version of Aurora, and it is impressive! Standout features include a journaling file system (JFS) and the ability to have partitions that span multiple drives. Screenshots are in this directory. Look for more details soon. More details on Workspace on Demand will be listed here soon, as well.

The OS/2 Supersite has posted a new "OS/2 Strategy" document from IBM that details the company's plans for OS/2 in the future. Details and lots of other OS/2 news at http://www.os2ss.com/news/

Other OS/2 sites worth seeing: The New OS/2 User Web Page provides info and tips, while the The Supersite Links Collection lists over 1250 others.

BrowserWatch notes that Netscape Communicator v4.04 (OS/2) is now available, albeit with a few bugs.

Details at http://www.software.ibm.com/os/warp/index.html. See also the article entitled IBM Outlines Roadmap for OS-2 Server Family.

Warp City has an extensive list of utilities and links of interest to Warp users. New at the site is a description of the forthcoming Netscape Communicator 4.0 for OS/2. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and have a look at the Config Tips for speeding up your OS/2 system, too.

IBM software to help Warp Server interoperate better with Windows NT and Windows 95 clients is now available. InfoWorld has details.

For Further Reading:

• OS/2 Watch

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