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 OD-90228                         SUGGESTION                       "PRIDE"-IF
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 MAY 12, 1997                   RELEASE  1.2.0                        PAGE  1

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       *                  MI-10001 WIN32 API SUPPORT                  *
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 REQUIRED DATE- OPEN          USER PRIORITY WEIGHT-  50    RANKING-  0007
 DATE RECEIVED- APR 16, 1997  REQUEST STANDING  - REVIEW   AS OF- MAY 12, 1997
                              TYPE- MOD/IMP

 DESCRIPTION-

        PRODUCT:  OS/2 Warp 4 and OS/2 Warp Server
        AREA:     Base operating system
        WHO:      End-users concerned with productivity

        Provide full Win32 support in the base operating system to
        allow all Windows 95 and NT programs to execute on OS/2,
        thereby making it the premier "integrating platform."

        BUSINESS RATIONALE

        A huge variety of high-quality general and special-purpose
        Win32 apps would be available for OS/2 users.  In most cases we
        are already two generations behind Win95 users.  Examples:
        Microsoft Office (of course), EndNote+,  @RISK, Claris
        FileMaker, etc.

        I seem to recall that Microsoft released their API as a standard
        to meet government requirements to not have a closed system.  It
        should be obvious that OS/2's failure to support Windows NT and
        95 software is a major negative mark against what is otherwise
        a great product that offers a heck of a lot more value than does
        NT.  I would therefore like to see the next server and work
        station release provide the ability to run Windows NT and 95
        software.

        It would be a good marketing option and fun, but not vital,
        to offer a choice of presentation managers, including one
        that looks like NT 4.0, and watch Microsoft complain about
        "Look and Feel" issues.  I am sure that Apple would be happy
        to provide copies of whatever documents they have on had that
        Microsoft filed against them.

        Implementing full Win32 support will up the resource
        requirements, but Warp 4 is not exactly a lean as it could be.
        With some possible major modifications, OS/2 could require still
        only 16mb RAM and support both APIs.  However, to make OS/2
        available to low-resource computers, the extra Win32 API support
        could be optional during installation.  Also, Win16 applications
        should continue to be supported as they are, since it is the
        best non-native support in the industry.

        ATTRIBUTES:

        HIGH Value
        Desired NEXT full release

        BENEFIT$

        1.  Strategic marketing move by IBM to encourage new
            users as in the days of WinOS2 support for Win 3.1 users.

        2.  End-users won't abandon OS/2 as their desktop OS when the
            feature list of the Win32 aps get too good to pass up.

        3.  Makes OS/2 "the" integrating platform of choice.


        EDITOR'S NOTE:  This request is based on multiple requests,
        which have been merged due to commonality, from the following
        contributors:

        David Rossiter
        Ithaca, NY, USA
        dgr2@clarityconnect.com

        Richard Bradley
        Alexandria, VA, USA

        Daniel Nice
        Sellersville, PA, USA
        Dnice@icdc.com

        John Ioannou
        Seattle, WA, USA
        ioannou@phys.washington.edu

        Ethan Nicholas
        Raleigh, NC, USA
        Digital Horizons
        enicholas@digital.horizons.net

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