IBM OS/2 Awards and Press Coverage From the PS Assistant (92nd Ed.) by Mark Chapman (IBM's PC Company - Americas) Additional contributions by Nigel Freeman (IBM UK) and Mark Selleck (IBM US). Reprinted with permission. Edited by Chris Novak, (IBM US) BESTeam Program. Information current as of 6/20/94 IBM has announced that sales of OS/2 2.x have exceeded 5,000,000. This number includes both OS/2 2.1 and OS/2 2.0 sales from April 1992 thru April 1994. OS/2 Awards (newest to oldest) 44 total OS/2 Industry Awards as of 8 June 1994 44 BYTE Magazine (USA) - June 1994 Reader's Choice Award Software Product of the Year (OS/2 for Windows) Personal OS/2 Beta version 1 ---------------------------- 43 COMDEX trade show (USA) - May 1994 Best of Show Overall 42 COMDEX trade show (USA) - May 1994 Best of System/Development OS/2 for Windows 3.1 -------------------- 41 Ziff-Davis (Europe) - 6 June 1994 Software Excellence Award Grand Award for Technical Excellence 40 BYTE Magazine (USA) - April 1994 Chaos Manor User's Choice Award Operating System of the Year (OS/2 for Windows) OS/2 2.1 -------- 39 PC Magazine (USA) - 31 May 1994 Editor's Choice Award 32-bit Operating System 38 PC World (Spain) - 31 May 1994 PC World Special Award 37 Binary (Spain) - 19 May 1994 ((Spanish edition of BYTE)) Award for Excellence 1993 36 InfoWorld (USA) - 28 March 1994 Readers' Choice - Overall Product of the Year 1993 35 InfoWorld (USA) - 28 March 1994 Readers' Choice - Software Product of the Year 1993 34 InfoWorld (USA) - 28 March 1994 Interoperability Award 33 CHIP Magazine (Germany) - 22 February 1994 Operating System of the Year 1993 32 Datamation (USA) - 15 February 1994 Product of the Year 1993 PC Software 31 PC Expert (France) - February 1994 Technical Excellence Award Operating Systems 30 Windows Magazine (USA) - February 1994 1994 WIN 100 Award Operating Systems 29 BYTE Magazine (USA) - January 1994 Best Products of 1993 BYTE Award of Excellence 28 Computer Shopper (UK) - January 1994 Best Buys of 1993 Best Operating System 27 PC Week Magazine (USA) - 27 December 1993 PC Week Laboratories Products of the Year 1993 26 Houston Chronicle (USA)- December 1993 Best Operating System 25 PC Magazine (UK) - December 1993 1993 Technical Innovation Award Best Desktop Operating System 24 Chinese Micro-Computer Extended Foundation (Taiwan) - December 1993 The Best Chinese Information Products of 1993 23 PC/Computing (USA) - November 1993 MVP (Most Valuable Product) Award Systems Software OS/2 2.0 -------- 22 Ziff-Davis (Europe) - June 1993 Software Excellence Award Operating Environment and Desktop 21 PC Magazine (Chile) - May 1993 Best Operating System for Personal Computers 20 PC Professionell (Germany) - May 1993 Innovationen des Jahres 92/93 Systems Software category 19 InfoWorld (USA) - 26 April 1993 Software Product of the Year 1992 18 InfoWorld (USA) - 26 April 1993 Overall Product of the Year 1992 17 Soft et Micro (France) - April 1993 1993 "Must-Have" Award 16 PC Magazine en Espanol (Mexico) - 31 March 1993 Premio a la Excelencia Tecnica 1992 en la categoria de Sistemas Operativos y Estandares de Software ("1992 Technical Excellence Award Operating Systems and Software Standards") 15 Computergram International (USA) - March 1993 Product Excellence 14 PC Magazine (Brazil) - March 1993 Best System for Multimedia 13 PC Magazine (Spain) - March 1993 Product of the Year 1992 12 The Washington Journal (USA) - February 1993 Best of 1992 Operating System 11 Softwarove Noviny (Czech Republic) - February 1993 Product of the Year 1992 10 Computer Language (USA) - 23 February 1993 Jolt Cola Award for Product Excellence 9 Datamation (USA) - 15 February 1993 Product of the Year PC Software 8 PC Magazine (Italy) - 3 February 1993 PC Technology Award 7 Corporate Computing (USA) - January 1993 Best Buy of 1993 6 PC World Norge (Norway) - December 1992 Aarets Dataprodukt ("Product of the Year") 1992 5 PC Week Magazine (USA) - 28 December 1992 PC Week Laboratories Top Products of 1992 Operating Systems 4 Information Week (USA) - 22 December 1992 1992 Top Products The 10 Most Likely to Succeed 3 PC Magazine (USA) - 22 December 1992 Technical Excellence Award Operating Systems and Standards 2 PC/Computing (USA) - December 1992 MVP (Most Valuable Product) Award Operating Systems and Environment 1 PC World (USA) - December 1992 PC Industry Achievement Award Most Promising Newcomer, Software  Ziff-Davis Europe (6Jun94) - Software Excellence Awards - Best U.K. Product (IBM Person to Person for Windows)  Datamation Magazine (15Feb94) - Product of the Year 1993, Second Place (Reader's Poll) - Networking Software (LAN Server)  Byte Magazine (Jan94) - Best Products of 1993, Award of Merit (IBM Continuous Speech Series-ICSS)  Byte Magazine (Dec93) - COMDEX Best of Show, Multimedia Software (Ultimedia Video IN/2)  Byte Magazine (Dec93) - COMDEX Best of Show Finalist, New Software (Personal Dictation System)  Byte Magazine (Jun93) - COMDEX Best of Show Finalist, New Technology (Personal Dictation System)  Byte Magazine (Dec92) - COMDEX Best of Show Finalist, New Software (IBM Continuous Speech Series-ICSS)  Software Support Professional Association (SSPA) (Dec93) - Software Technical Assistance Recognition (STAR) award, High call-volume, (IBM PSP Service and Support organization)  InfoWorld Magazine (Nov93) - Excellent rating (Technical Support)  Data Communications Mag. (21Jan94) - Hot Product Award (AnyNet/2)  Network World Magazine (Oct93) - Enterprise Technology Award, Middleware (AnyNet family)  Lan Computing Magazine (Oct93) - Standards Achievement Award (Network Management Software)  Byte Magazine (Jan94) - Best Products of 1993, Award of Merit (IBM Continuous Speech Series-ICSS)  Byte Magazine (Dec93) - COMDEX Best of Show Finalist, New Software (Personal Dictation System)  Byte Magazine (Jun93) - COMDEX Best of Show Finalist, New Technology (Personal Dictation System)  Byte Magazine (Dec92) - COMDEX Best of Show Finalist, New Software (IBM Continuous Speech Series-ICSS) Stories behind the awards This section contains detailed stories about the circumstances behind many of the awards OS/2 has received. May 1994 - COMDEX #42, #43 Background: The Personal OS/2 beta (OS/2 for Windows Performance Beta 1 Version 2.99) was chosen by BYTE's editors as the overall Best Product at COMDEX in Atlanta at the end of May. Personal OS/2 from IBM, the beta of a 4MB version of OS/2 for Windows that is slated to ship this year, was named "Best of Show" and "Best System/Development Software Category" in BYTE magazine and The Interface Group's" Best of COMDEX/Spring and Windows World '94" award ceremony in Atlanta today. Candidates for the "Best of Show" award were the 12 winners of the individual categories. Personal OS/2 captured the award, surpassing Digital's Alpha microprocessor, Apple's PowerBook 500, and Microsoft's OLE Custom Controls, WinG and Windows NT. The Personal OS/2 Beta also won best of system/development category, beating out Microsoft's Windows NT Workstation, Windows NT, and Chicago, Microsoft's newest version of Windows (not yet released). Beta code normally does not receive such an honor. However, the editors were evidently so impressed with the quality and performance of this most recent version of OS/2 ((to be released officially later this year)) that they bestowed the award anyway, even when faced with offerings from Microsoft. "We were surprised," said Lee Reiswig. "This is the beta test version, and it doesn't contain all the capabilities and exciting parts, but it still managed to get best of show." When presenting the award Jerry Pournelle said it was because of the significant impact this product will have on the future of the industry. Wally Casey, IBM's Director of Marketing, said if you were going to Chicago from here, you have to set your watch back two years. The entire crowd broke out in laughter. 6 June 1994 Ziff-Davis (Europe) #41 Software Excellence Award Grand Award for Technical Excellence Background: At a dinner on 6 June 1994 in Cannes, IBM OS/2 for Windows 3.1 was awarded the top prize in the Ziff Davis Europe Software Excellence Awards. OS/2 for Windows 3.1 won the Grand Technical Excellence Award. The other two finalists in this category were Novell Dos 7 and Stacker 4.0 for Windows and DOS from Stac Electronics. The Ziff-Davis Europe Software Excellence Awards honor the publishers and republishers of the best Software products in the European market. OS/2 for Windows was also entered into the Environment/Desktop category, but lost out to The Norton Desktop 3.0 for Windows. The other finalist in this category was Microsoft Windows NT 3.1. In the 1993 awards, OS/2 Version 2.0 won the Environment/Desktop category, but not the coveted top honor, the Grand Award for Technical Excellence. IBM Person-to-Person for Windows, developed at IBM Hursley in England, was awarded the prize for Best UK Product. (The OS/2 version has been available for some time, and other language versions are also now available.) 31 May 1994 PC Magazine (USA) #39 Editor's Choice Award -- 32-bit Operating System Background: The 31 May 1994 issue of PC Magazine gives OS/2 2.1 the "Editor's Choice" award in its review of the 32-bit Operating Systems on the market. OS/2 beat Windows NT, NextStep, and the various flavors of PC Unix. Now IBM can add the vaunted "Editor's Choice" insignia to the list of prizes in its OS/2 ads. The May 31, 1994 edition compares 32-bit Operating Systems. The key table from the article is as follows: ............................................................ . Suitability to task: . . Win NT OS/2 . . --------- --------- . . Application development Excellent Excellent . . Graphics and multimedia Good Good . . Business productivity Fair Good . . DOS/Windows emulation Excellent Excellent . . Networking/connectivity Good Excellent . ............................................................ A more complete extract from PC Magazine follows: PC MAGAZINE MAY 31, 1994 VOLUME 13 NUMBER 10 pg. 204 EDITORS' CHOICE, OS/2, Version 2.1 "If you're looking for a true 32-bit, multithreaded, multitasking operating system suitable for both desktop and server duty, look no further. OS/2 2.1 delivers a robust platform that offers a user-friendly desktop paradigm, flawless DOS and Microsoft Windows support and excellent connectivity to all classes of computers." "Buying an advanced OS is like buying a house: You can't do without one, but even the nicest ones force you to live with compromises. Our choice goes to the operating system we feel currently offers the most on the plus side--with the smallest number of drawbacks. "Our Editors' Choice designation goes to IBM's OS/2, Version 2.1. This operating system impressed us with its stability, its true object-oriented GUI interface, and strong DOS and Microsoft Windows emulation. OS/2 is far less hardware-intensive than most of the other reviewed operating systems, running comfortably with 8MB of RAM, even on a 386. This and its low price make it a strong candidate as a coporate desktop standard. "Additional high points include OS/2 2.1's implementation of SOM, a powerful language-independent object model; and REXX, IBM's cross-platform procedures language...." The rest can be obtained from PC Magazine itself. SCO Open Desktop received an honorable mention, with Windows NT recieving a "we were impressed." statement. The other Operating Systems included in the "FACE-OFF" were: - Interactive Unix 4.0, - Nextstep 3.2, - Novell UnixWare 1.1, - Solaris for x86 2.1. 31 May 1994 PC World (Spain) #38 PC World Special Award Background (from Jose Pedro Moro, IBM PSP Spain): The editors of PC World have voted to give to OS/2 their Special Award. The Award will be presented at a dinner on the 31st of May. "PC World" is the biggest selling PC magazine in Spain. 19 May 1994 Binary (Spain) #37 (Spanish edition of BYTE) Award for Excellence 1993 Background (from Jose Pedro Moro, IBM PSP Spain): Binary (the Spanish edition of Byte), has given to OS/2 2.1 their "Award for Excellence for 1993". The award was presented yesterday evening, the 19th of May. "Binary" is a very prestigious magazine, focusing on technical issues. 28 March 1994 InfoWorld (USA) #34, #35, #36 #34 Interoperability Award #35 Readers' Choice - Software Product of the Year 1993 #36 Readers' Choice - Overall Product of the Year 1993 Background, InfoWorld Magazine, 28 March 1994: "Acclamation by peers -- not a bad measure, but it doesn't reflect what the customers think about the product. That's how InfoWorld's Product of the Year differs; we give you a chance to tell us and the industry which products made it to the top. In January, we asked 100,000 InfoWorld readers to vote for best products in the software, hardware, and networking categories and1 the top overall product of 1993. The results are in and very interesting. In hardware, the IBM ThinkPad 720C beat the competition; and in both Software and Overall, OS/2 2.1 was the clear winner. For IBM it was a very good year. We have to declare OS/2 the Reigning Champion when it comes to our Product of the Year balloting. Version 2.0 ... won last year's overall category as well. Today's OS/2 both meets expectations and can run comfortably on the average new PC. At one time thought of as the Rodney Dangerfield of computer operating systems, OS/2 is getting plenty of respect from InfoWorld's readers." (InfoWorld Magazine, 28 Mar 94) "How well does an operating system get along with others on the network? The top grade went to OS/2 2.1. In the interoperability tests published in November, OS/2 2.1 provided the broadest native connectivity of all the operating systems tested. Network access integrates easily into the Workplace shell, down to the printer objects." (InfoWorld Magazine, 28 Mar 94) 22 February 1994 CHIP Magazine (Germany) #33 Operating System of the Year 1993 Background: OS/2 was choosen 'Software of the Year 1993' (Operating Systems Category) by a German PC Magazine (CHIP) on 22 Feb 94. It was selected by about 13,000 readers of the magazine. In addition, OS/2 was choosen second in the category 'Best Overall Software' behind Corel Draw 4.0. By the way, Windows 3.1 scored third in this category (it was first in 1993). 15 February 1994 Datamation (USA) #32 Product of the Year 1993 - PC Software Background: The February 15, 1994 issue of Datamation lists its "1993 Products of the Year" (selected from products introduced between June 1, 1992 and May 31, 1993). IBM products not only placed in each of the 8 product categories, but the IBM ThinkPad Family was also named their overall winner. Here are Datamation's selections (in the PC Software category): PC Software 1. IBM OS/2 2.1 2. Delrina Technology PerForm Pro Plus 1.0 3. WordPerfect for Windows 5.2 February 1994 WINDOWS Magazine (USA) #30 1994 WIN 100 Award - Operating Systems Background (IBM PSP USA Press Release, 9 March 94) OS/2 CHALKS UP WIN 100 AWARD IBM'S OS/2 NAMED ONE OF THE BEST WINDOWS PRODUCTS OF THE YEAR AUSTIN, Texas, March 9, 1994 ... Catapulting to the top of the competitive operating systems category, IBM's OS/2* captured WINDOWS Magazine's "WIN 100 Award." Named one of the best Windows** products of the year, IBM's award-winning, 32-bit operating system beat Windows NT for this year's recognition. The WIN 100 Awards are selected by the editors of WINDOWS Magazine annually, recognizing the top 100 Windows hardware and software products of the year. "IBM's desktop operating system comes of age in a version that provides performance equal to (and in some cases, better than) Windows 3.1 while running Windows applications," said Jake Kirchner, the magazine's executive editor. "It's not surprising that WINDOWS Magazine chose OS/2 2.1 for a WIN 100 Award this year. OS/2 supports Windows 3.0 and 3.1 applications in Standard and Enhanced mode and offers 32-bit processing." Wally Casey, director of marketing for IBM's Personal Software Products division noted, "OS/2 has been designed as an integrating platform with capabilities to support DOS/Windows as well as OS/2 applications. OS/2's popularity continues to surge due to strong customer demand, especially with the recent introduction of OS/2 for Windows. By giving OS/2 the WIN 100 Award, the editors of WINDOWS Magazine acknowledge the industry-wide acceptance of OS/2 as the 32-bit operating system of choice, even among Windows users." OS/2, like Windows, is an operating environment for PCs. OS/2, however, not only runs DOS and Windows applications, but it runs several at the same time, and in many cases faster than in Windows. In addition, OS/2 allows users to run the latest 32-bit applications. OS/2 for Windows provides this same capability to users who already own Windows 3.1. For the price of Windows or DOS utilities, users get better performance, fewer crashes, and true multitasking. January 1994 Byte Magazine (USA) #29 Best Products of 1993 - Byte Award of Excellence Background: (IBM PSP USA Press Release, 16 Feb 1994) OS/2 WINS BYTE MAGAZINE'S 1993 AWARD OF EXCELLENCE February 16, 1994 IBM's award-winning 32-bit PC operating system, has snapped up BYTE Magazine's "1993 Award of Excellence,". OS/2 2.1 was the only software/operating system recognized as one of the three "top vote-getters," sharing the honors with the IBM/Apple/Motorola PowerPC 601 and Intel's Pentium processor. BYTE Magazine's 1993 Editorial Awards, which comprise Awards of Excellence, Merit and Distinction, recognize breakthrough products that set the standards for innovation and price/performance. According to BYTE, of the many computer-related products and technologies that debuted in 1993, only 71 earned the prestigious awards and, of those, only 16 are honored with Awards of Excellence. Jon Udell, BYTE's senior technical editor-at-large, lauded IBM's OS/2. "Running OS/2 2.1 on an 8 MB machine that hasn't a prayer of running Windows NT, I find that it delivers many of the same benefits: robust multithreading and multitasking, a comprehensive 32-bit API, an advanced file system, and support for Windows 3.1 software," Udell said. "Software developers have known for years that OS/2 is a far more productive environment than DOS plus Windows. With the polish and maturity of version 2.1, more and more users are discovering the same advantage." December 1993 PC Magazine (UK) #25 1993 Technical Innovation Award - Best Desktop Operating System Background (from PSP EMEA press release, 2 December 1993): IBM OS/2 2.1 has won another top industry award. The UK's "PC Magazine" has awarded it the "Best Desktop Operating System" accolade. The judges were trade journalists and product experts from the Ziff-Davis publishing organisation. They rated OS/2 2.1 the best Desktop Operating System, beating competitors such as Windows NT 3.1 and MS-DOS 6.0. OS/2 2.1 was also one of the finalists in the overall "Product of the Year category (won by the Intel PCI bus). The citation praises OS/2 2.1 for "its ability to run applications from other operating systems ((DOS and Windows)) to a standard that's as good as, if not better than, the native platforms", and calls it "a staggering technical achievement that all this power is actually usable on a 386DX with 6MB of RAM." November 1993 PC/Computing (USA) #23 MVP (Most Valuable Product) Award - Systems Software Background (IBM PSP US Press Release, 17 Nov 1993): IBM's OS/2 NAMED TOP PC OPERATING SYSTEM LAS VEGAS, Nov. 17... Industry acceptance continues to build for IBM's advanced 32-bit operating system, OS/2. For the second consecutive year at COMDEX, OS/2 was awarded PC/Computing's prestigious Most Valuable Product award in the Systems Software category. OS/2 2.1 was chosen over Windows NT 3.1 and Novell DOS 7.0 for the honor. The publication's December cover story recommended readers try OS/2 2.1 and not "sit around waiting for the next generation operating system. It's here now, and it works great... It is, in short, everything you'd want an operating system to be." "These awards aren't easy to win, and it's particularly pleasing because the team in our Boca Raton lab produced a great product in OS/2 2.0 and won this award last year" said Lee Reiswig, president of IBM's Personal Software Products. "Now they've produced an even greater product in OS/2 2.1 and won again this year against more competition. Congratulations are in order for all of the talented folks at IBM who made OS/2 2.1 MVP 1993." The award was presented during a spectacular ceremony held at Caesar's Palace on the eve of COMDEX. Paul Somerson, PC/Computing editor-in-chief, said "We look for technological innovation and ease-of-use above all else. Products must not only be the best in their category but also address a wide variety of customer needs," he said. "OS/2 has the most attractive user interface available on the PC and it's a true 32-bit, multithreaded operating system." June 1993 Ziff-Davis (Europe) #22 Software Excellence Award - Operating Environment and Desktop Background (from PSP EMEA press release 7 June 1993): IBM OS/2 WINS ANOTHER MAJOR AWARD -- ZIFF-DAVIS EUROPE SOFTWARE EXCELLENCE AWARD Cannes, 7 June 1993 At the Ziff-Davis Europe Software Excellence Awards presented here today, IBM OS/2 2.0 won the "Environment and Desktop Award", and was a finalist in the "Technical Excellence" category. The Software Excellence Awards are determined by a panel from the Ziff-Davis publishing group. The Senior Software Editors of three Ziff-Davis Europe magazines ("PC Magazine" from the UK, "PC Expert" from France and "PC Professionell" from Germany) evaluated software released between 1 April 1992 and 30 March 1993. IBM OS/2 2.0 was the outright winner of the "Environment and Desktop Award", where the other finalists were Microsoft Windows for Workgroups, Hewlett-Packard New Wave, and Norton Desktop for Windows. OS/2 was also a finalist for the overall "Technical Excellence Award", which was won by Borland Paradox for Windows; the only other finalist in this top-of-show category was Lotus AmiPro v 3. March 1993 PC Professionell (Germany) #20 "Innovationen des Jahres 92/93" award - System Software category Background (Note from Herbert Kahl, PSP Germany, 26/3/93, to Gordon Bell): During the Hannover fair CeBIT OS/2 2.0 got another award. The journalist from the German "PC Professionell" published by ZIFF (ZIFF/DAVIS), that is the German version of the American PC Magazine, gave the innovation award in the category "system software" to IBM OS/2 2.0. The other two finalists were "VIDEO FOR WINDOWS 1.0" by Microsoft and "QUICKTIME FOR WINDOWS 1.0" by Apple. THE WINNER WAS IBM OS/2 2.0. The award is called "INNOVATIONEN DES JAHRES 92/93", which means "Innovations of the year 92/93", with 8 different categories: - PC's/Notebooks - Hardware periphery - Adapter cards and features - Hardware technology - Application software - System software - Utilities - Software technology There was a celebration with about 500 selected guests in the evening of the 24th of March, where we got the award, and also a photo session at the CeBIT. (The awards were published, in German language, in the May 1993 edition of PC Professionell, pp 114-132.) 26 April 1993 InfoWorld (USA) #19 #18 Software Product of the Year 1992 #19 Overall Product of the Year 1992 Background (IBM PSP USA Press Release, 26 April 1993): IBM's OS/2 2.0 CHALKS UP MORE INDUSTRY AWARDS! SOMERS, N. Y., April 26, 1993... OS/2* 2.0, the advanced operating system for personal computers, has been honored as "Product of the Year" in two categories by the readers of InfoWorld, a leading computer industry trade journal, IBM's Personal Software Products division announced today. In balloting conducted among the magazine's readers in March, IBM's OS/2 was named "Software Product of the Year" and overall "Product of the Year," both for 1992. InfoWorld's awards recognize "superior achievement" in personal computer hardware, software and networking products, according to the magazine. Although the editors nominate the products in each category, the readers select the winners. The overall "Product of the Year" award is based solely on write-in votes from the readers. "InfoWorld's readers represent an important audience for us and their grass roots support is an important measure of the industry," says John Patrick, vice president of sales and marketing for Personal Software Products. "As evidenced by these awards, OS/2 2.0 continues to achieve significant market momentum as the leading 32-bit operating system for today's high-performance personal computers." (Extract from InfoWorld, April 26, 1993) "We asked our readers to choose the top products in the key categories: hardware, software, networking, and the overall best product of 1992. The ballots offered readers lots of choices, yet the winners were easy to spot. We thank the readers who voted. Your efforts help us and the industry understand your product needs and preferences. "Software: OS/2 2.0 IBM shipped OS/2 2.0 in April 1992, and it appears to have found a waiting market. The company had lofty ambitions for this release -- a revised look with the Workplace Shell and promises of running DOS and Windows applications better than their native environments could. After five years of watching whether OS/2 would take off, our readers said that 1992 was the year for this operating system. "Overall Product of the Year : OS/2 2.0 Weighed against all the other products available, our readers said - in a very strong voice - that OS/2 2.0 was the most important product of 1992. Information managers and system designers need an operating system that allows them to build client/server networks. It seems clear that IBM has cleared many of the hurdles that faced this operating system, and readers and users are taking a fresh look at what was once an underdog product." 23 February 1993 Computer Language (USA) #10 Jolt Cola Award for Product Excellence Background (note from John Sorying, 24 Feb 1993): Last night (23 Feb 1993), COMPUTER LANGUAGE (a publication of Miller Freeman, Inc) hosted the COMPUTER LANGUAGE product and productivity excellence award ceremonies at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Following Bill Gates' talk (aka sales pitch for Microsoft products and architectures), Larry O'Brien, editor of COMPUTER LANGUAGE hosted the awards ceremonies. Various products won "productivity awards" and the best of the "productivity award" winners received the "product excellence" award. Capping off the ceremony, Larry O'Brien announced that IBM OS/2 V.2 won the COMPUTER LANGUAGE - Jolt Cola Product Excellence Award 1992. I had the honor of accepting on IBM's behalf. Jolt Cola (advertised as "Twice the caffeine" with "SUGAR the real thing") is held in high regard by programmers as one of the symbols of the programming community or culture. For the programming community, this is a prestigious award. January 1993 PC World (Norway) #6 Product of the Year 1992 Background (note from Lars Holck, PSP Product Manager, Nordics): Subject: OS/2 award from "PC World", Norway The award was published (in Norwegian) in "PC World Norge" (part of IDG) nr.11, 1992, pp 34-38. The decisions were made by the editors and journalists of the magazine. The name of the award was "Aarets Dataprodukt" ("Product of the Year"). All in all 7 awards were given: - Olivetti Quaderno - Microsoft Excel 4.0 - HP LaserJet 4 - IBM OS/2 2.0 - Intel Overdrive - Toshiba T4400SXC - Compaq Pagemarq 20 There were no specific categories, just the selection of the "Best product of the year". This is an annual award. OS/2 2.1 has reached the "Top 10" best-seller lists of several sales-tracking organizations. Recent sales rankings of OS/2 2.1 (from newest to oldest) include:  PC Data (Apr94) - #4 (Windows software) âOS/2 2.1 for Windowsã  PC Data (Mar94) - #6 (DOS software)  PC Data (Mar94) - #7 (Windows software) âOS/2 2.1 for Windowsã  Ingram Micro (19Feb94) - #3 (Overall) âOS/2 2.1 for Windowsã  Ingram Micro (21Jan94) - #9 (Overall) âOS/2 2.1 for Windowsã  PC Data (Jan94) - #6 (DOS software)  Ingram Micro (Dec93) - #1 (Operating Systems and Languages--Diskette)  Ingram Micro (Dec93) - #2 (Operating Systems and Languages--CD-ROM)  Software Spectrum (Oct93) - #1 (Operating Systems and Utilities)  Corporate Software (Sep93) - #2 (Operating Systems/Utilities)  G. Meier, Inc. (Sep93) - #3 (Utilities/Operating Environments)  Merisel (30Aug93) - #3 (Operating Environments - Consumer, VAR)  Merisel (30Aug93) - #4 (Operating Environments - Retail)  Corporate Software (Aug93) - #2 (Operating Systems/Utilities)  G. Meier, Inc. (Aug93) - #3 (Utilities/Operating Environments)  Corporate Software (Jul93) - #3 (Operating Systems/Utilities)  Ingram Micro (Jul93) - #4 (Overall)  Ingram Micro (Jul93) - #3 (Utilities/Operating Environments - Retail, VAR)  Corporate Software (Jun93) - #3 (Operating Systems/Utilities)  Corporate Software (May93) - #3 (Operating Systems/Utilities) These are press clippings about IBM's Beta for OS/2 2.2. "It's fast, it's robust, and it works: OS/2 takes the wind out of Chicago. Windows 4 has been in beta testing for something like nine months now, and it is still too slow on an 8MB system and too unreliable. There are EMM386 problems, CD-ROM problems, SoundBlaster problems, and this new interface turns homely applications downright ugly. Suddenly OS/2 is looking very, very good. But wait, they'll speed up Chicago before it ships! Maybe, but the OS/2 2.2 beta is already faster, lots faster. It has networking built-in and makes Windows 3.1 apps look like Windows 3.1 apps. It may have taken IBM 7 years to get it right, but I'm finally coming around." (Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld Magazine, 06Jun94) These are press clippings about IBM's Beta for OS/2 SMP. "IBM has chosen to retrofit the existing OS/2 2.1 to support 80x86-based SMP platforms. Fortunately the necessary techniques are well understood--many Unix kernels have undergone the same transformation. OS/2 SMP should be an effective first implementation, delivering real scalability for multithreaded OS/2 programs as well as concurrent DOS/Windows sessions. An attractive solution for inexpensive, small-footprint clients and servers." (Michael Kogan, Byte Magazine, Jun94) "OS/2 will enjoy some advantages over SMP products such as NT, ... Solaris for X86, UnixWare 2.0 ... and ... SCO UNIX and Open Desktop, according to John Navas, a principal with The Navas Group, a ... market research firm. 'OS/2 SMP will be able to multiprocess conventional OS/2 applications without recompiling,' Navas said. 'OS/2 SMP will run in 8MB credibly, but NT and Unix systems require 20MB or more to support SMP.' IBM is claiming another technical advantage. 'Unix kernels, even in SMP implementations, are single-threaded, while ours is multithreaded,' said âJohnã Soyring âdirector of strategic relations for IBM PSPã. 'This makes the operating system itself go faster, since operating-system tasks can happen in parallel.'" (Mary Jo Foley, PC Week, 07Mar94) These are press clippings about IBM's Personal OS/2 Beta (See awards section above). These are press clippings about OS/2 for Windows. "âWãhile W4WG âWindows for Workgroupsã has some 32-bit features, it's not really a 32-bit operating system; and while it's not too bad at task switching, it's not really a multitasking operating system. It knows about objects, but it's not truly an object-oriented system. It will run some DOS programs well enough, but it's really awful with others. It's a bad gaming environment. The plain truth is that if you're running a lot of DOS programs, you'll really be better off with OS/2." (Jerry Pournelle, Byte Magazine, Apr94) "Someone at IBM came up with a great idea: Why charge all those Windows 3.1 users for the same code twice? With this edition, IBM supplies the OS/2 code, and users supply their copies of Windows 3.1. If you're not an OS/2 user yet, and you already have Windows 3.1, this is the edition to buy. Installing OS/2 on an extended partition with Boot Manager offers the best of both worlds in terms of performance and overall ease of use. Boot Manager lets you choose the partition from which you want to start, with the aid of a user-friendly menu, which is key. The end result ... leaves the user with the choice of running DOS and Windows under a FAT file system, or multitasking DOS, Windows, and OS/2 applications under HPFS." (Frank Comley, InfoWorld, 07Mar94) "On the marketing front, OS/2 for Windows presents an almost no-risk buy for the individual user. Many a customer has paid more than the Special Edition's introductory price for a DOS memory manager.... And if nothing else, OS/2 for Windows certainly excels as a DOS memory manager and multitasker. Under close scrutiny, OS/2 for Windows turns out to differ very little from OS/2 itself. Our initial tests indicate that other than the missing WIN-OS2 components (which are supplied by âyour copy ofã Windows itself) and a few changes to the device drivers and DLLs that handle Windows-to-OS/2 communications, very little has changed from OS/2. The similarity ... decreases the chance of radically different problems occurring at sites using both flavors of version 2.1. Since OS/2 for Windows relies on Microsoft Windows code running under OS/2 rather than modified Windows code integrated into OS/2, we expected performance degradation with respect to WIN-OS2. Surprisingly, OS/2 for Windows was faster in all tests. Typically, the performance improvement was ... under 5 percent. ...OS/2 for Windows establishes a new level of confidence in IBM as an operating system developer. While IBM no longer has access to new Windows source code, OS/2 for Windows demonstrates that IBM doesn't need that code to enable Windows compatibility under OS/2." (Bradley Kliewer, OS/2 Professional, Jan94) "âIãf you're a Windows user and you install the new OS/2 you keep your old Windows, complete with desktop and applications. You can then move all your DOS applications to OS/2. They'll run a lot better. This is particularly noticeable with visual and sound-intensive games, which in Windows are either jerky and clunky or won't work at all. In OS/2 you can have several of your favorite DOS games running all at once. Game developers tell me the interface with Windows wasn't designed to allow the kinds of things game developers like to do. Now, you might not think games important, but consider: games are a good example of what hands-on multimedia is really like." (Jerry Pournelle, OS/2 Professional, Jan94) These are press clippings about OS/2 2.1 since May 1993. "And that ... is the real bottom line. OS/2 will do all that DOS and Windows will do, and more. Many DOS games won't run in Windows but give OS/2 no trouble at all. OS/2 networks extremely well to other OS/2 systems and acceptably well to W4WG âWindows for Workgroupsã. It's true 32-bit code, it truly does multitasking, it really know objects and object linking in ways Microsoft doesn't seem to have learned, and as long as you're not experimenting to find the limits, it's solid as a rock. Technically, OS/2 is a winner, and it's sure to get better." (Jerry Pournelle, Byte Magazine, May94) "It looks as though OS/2 has won the battle to become the 1994 champions of 32-bit desktop operating systems." (Datamation, p. 43, 15Apr94) "A PC equipped with IBM's OS/2 2.1 operating system is well-armed to tackle multimedia--even more so, in many ways, than a PC running Microsoft Windows or a Macintosh with System 7. Unlike Windows, OS/2 and its Multimedia Presentation Manager/2 (MMPM2) provide extensive multimedia support straight out of the box, including digital sound recording and playback, and viewing of IBM's Ultimotion and Intel's Indeo AVI video formats at up to 30 frames per second.... Further, the 32-bit architecture and pre-emptive multitasking of the OS/2 operating system arguably give it a major boost in tackling the demands of full-motion video, and are especially well-suited for video and playback from CD-ROM." (Rich Santalesa, Computer Shopper, Apr94) "How well does an operating system get along with others on the network? The top grade went to OS/2 2.1. In the interoperability tests published in November, OS/2 2.1 provided the broadest native connectivity of all the operating systems tested. Network access integrates easily into the Workplace shell, down to the printer objects. OS/2 was the only operating system where we could get NetWare, LAN Server and TCP/IP running simultaneously and still be able to run all our OS/2, DOS and Windows applications with RAM to spare. Combine that with the multitasking and powerful OS/2 Workplace Shell, and we can't imagine ever going back to a DOS/Windows environment." (Nicholas Petreley and Laura Wonnacott, InfoWorld Magazine, 28Mar94) "Gates would love to see Microsoft Home take off--because Windows NT certainly hasn't. As it turns out, NT is getting as warm a reception as New Coke. Even Microsoft has pushed back development of native versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.... And the biggest surprise of all is that OS/2 seems to be making some real headway in the âhomeã marketplace. IBM may have the last laugh after all." (Home Office Computing, Mar94) "IBM's OS/2 is seen more as a full-size environment, particularly with its well-defined object strategy in SOM (System Object Model) and DSOM (Distributed SOM) and the way that IBM has clearly committed itself over the long term to migrating to the new Taligent object model. Combined with the growing number of users and a trickle of both desktop applications and of unique, useful application design tools, OS/2 continues to be a viable choice for customers, and IBM--ironically--ends up being a much more comfortable choice than Microsoft." (Stewart Alsop, InfoWorld Magazine, 21Feb94) "So, you've written off IBM's OS/2? Not so fast. Of five 32-bit GUIs we took to task for this story, OS/2 is ahead of the pack. Its Workplace Shell is a sleek, well-crafted control center. Aside from proven compatibility with more than 50,000 Windows and DOS applications, OS/2 has thousands of native apps written for it. If you're going to choose a 32-bit GUI, you can't lose with OS/2." âComparison of NextStep 3.2, OS/2 2.1, SCO Open Desktop 3.0, Solaris 2.1 for x86, and Windows NT 3.1ã (Randy Kennedy, PC/Computing, Feb94) "OS/2 2.1 leads the way with our readers' votes. In a year flooded with new operating systems--Windows NT, UnixWare, Solaris, and NeXTStep--OS/2 emerged victorious. Actually, it has done more than simply beat the newcomers. This version has broken Microsoft's iron grip on today's computers. Another plus for OS/2 is IBM's legendary support. If your new program goes haywire under OS/2 at midnight on Friday night, you don't have to wait for Monday morning to get help. IBM's HelpCenter is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week." Stephen J. Vaughan-Nichols, Computer Shopper, Jan94) "Microsoft would like everyone to call this the year of Windows NT. But it's not there yet. It came too late, ran too slowly, and delivered too little. The most impressive 32-bit operating system by far is IBM's OS/2 2.1. OS/2 2.1 offers full, fast support for Windows 3.1 (including 386 Enhanced Mode), DOS, and all versions of OS/2--especially the major applications developed for the WorkPlace Shell. Don't sit waiting around for the next-generation operating system. It's here now, and it works great. IBM's OS/2 2.1 is a multi-threaded, 32-bit operating system that finally has a steadily growing body of applications using it.... OS/2 has the most attractive interface available on a PC, and it's fast, even at Windows emulation. It is, in short, everything you'd want an operating system to be." (John Montgomery and John Taschek, PC/Computing, Dec93) "Offered as part of IBM's OS/2 2.1, Multimedia Presentation Manager/2 beats anything you'll find in Windows. It's full of intuitive extras, from simple things like a volume-control knob icon to a well-laid-out master screen. Build on this with IBM's Ultimedia software, and you've got a killer combination." (Matthew Lake and Ron White, PC/Computing, Dec93) "Right now, OS/2 seems to be riding a new wave of popularity. Published reports put sales past the 3 million mark. With Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT sputtering at the starting gate and Unix vendors still unable to deliver a unified version of the operating system for the Intel platform, OS/2 is looking better all the time. And although LAN Server is not an integral part of the OS/2 kernel, it was built to run as a set of networking services on top of OS/2. 'OS/2 is probably the best environment for communications. The OS/2 Communications Manager supports so many protocols, you can connect âOS/2 and LAN Serverã with almost anything,' âSteveã Rabin âdirector of development technologies at American Software Inc.ã says." (Alan Radding, InfoWorld, 29Nov93) "Of the products reviewed, OS/2 2.1 is best suited for the majority of desktop PCs today. âIãt offers the best connectivity of the bunch. Also, OS/2 runs more 16-bit Windows programs than NT and runs them faster. OS/2 offers functionality that NT does not--right mouse button support, hierarchical folders, and objects on the desktop. Also, dragging and dropping is better in OS/2 than NT. Although OS/2 does not have built-in network support, its integration with NetWare is mature and stable. This allows connectivity with a proven mission-critical server. OS/2 âworksã with all the leading LAN standards (LAN Server, NetWare, Vines, and LAN Manager). OS/2 got top honors âfor technical supportã. We received in-depth answers to our questions as well as more than one solution to a problem in many cases. OS/2 offers fine documentation--easy to read and comprehensive." âComparison of 6 operating systems, including NextStep, Open Desktop, Solaris, UnixWare, and Windows NT.ã (James Armstrong and Les Kent, InfoWorld, 22Nov93) "If you've never touched a GUI before, you'll probably fall in love with OS/2 2.1. It's easy to use, attractive, and includes lots of online help. If you're coming from the DOS world, or don't like what you're getting in Windows 3.1, you'll probably find that OS/2 is a slicker operating system overall âthan NTã. OS/2's Drive Manager beats Windows NT's. Why? You can drag and drop between it and OS/2 applications. Windows NT's File Manager ... is one of the worst features of Windows 3.1, and it's made its way into Windows NT intact. Hey everybody: There is an alternative to Windows." (John Montgomery, PC/Computing, Nov93) "Resellers report that OS/2 2.1 has far outsold NT since NT shipped in mid-August (1993). IBM is shipping hundreds of thousands of copies of OS/2 2.1 each month.... Microsoft officials said that by late September the company had shipped about 200,000 copies of NT." (Robert L. Scheier and Marc Ferranti, PC Week, 18Oct93) "Suddenly, OS/2--last year's underdog in the 32-bit play-offs--has hit a home run with its Version 2.1, which surprisingly provides a better 32-bit environment for many current Windows 3.1 players than Windows NT does." (Frederic Davis, Windows Sources, Oct93) "Now that the NT team is back from vacation, I suggest that they ... look for inspiration in a most unlikely place: IBM's OS/2 Version 2.1. Because while the NT team was feverishly swatting NT bugs in Redmond, IBM was quietly turning the Workplace Shell into a work of art. If I were in charge of NT, here is what I'd steal first: Multimedia Presentation Manager: You get 30 - frames - per - second video and a robust set of tools that developers are raving about. Multimedia is what 32-bit operating systems were made for, so do it right. Individually Configurable DOS/Windows Sessions: NT requires you to stuff all your Windows 3.1 apps in a single virtual machine; if one goes down, they all go down. OS/2 lets you load each one in its own protected space. No More File Manager: Why can't files, directories, and even entire drives simply have icons that sit on the desktop alongside programs? That's the OS/2 way, and it's amazingly easy to get used to. You can even drag files into the shredder ..., a GUI gotta-have-it that Windows still doesn't have. Online Help: Microsoft's is good. IBM's is amazing. In OS/2 2.1, every word of every manual is online and searchable. Every piece of software should offer this much help." (Ed Bott, PC/Computing, Oct93) "OS/2 â2.1ã has clearly bested Windows NT in its ability to run 16-bit DOS and Windows applications along with native apps. OS/2 is ... here now, and it's winning hearts in Corporate America for its robustness, excellent development tools, and broad range of connectivity options. IBM says it's selling 300,000 copies per month. OS/2 is an operating system that's going somewhere. IBM has articulated plans to move OS/2 to a microkernel based architecture âWorkplace OSã that will implement object orientation, portability, and support for multiple CPUs. With TrueType support and vastly improved display and printer drivers, OS/2 makes an excellent case for itself as a mature operating system. IBM's plans for Workplace OS should give developers confidence in OS/2's staying power." (Bill Machrone, PC Magazine, 14Sep93) "Nick's become nothing short of an OS/2 fanatic, and that really has us worried. Since he switched to OS/2, he definitely looks like he's enjoying his work more than he should be." "âAãfter a couple of weeks with the OS/2 desktop, the Workplace Shell, it becomes painfully obvious just how rinky-dink the native Windows âNTã interface really is. And right now, there's no Norton Desktop that's going to come to your rescue." (Nicholas Petreley, Nancy Durlester, and Laura Wonnacott, InfoWorld, 13Sep93) "OS/2 is more than just another pretty GUI: It provides a library of graphical interface objects, an industrial strength embedded programming language and multiple threads for nimble multitasking. The REXX language âwhich originated on IBM mainframesã is the result of more than a decade of worldwide user recommendations and feedback.... With its convenient ... features, such as unlimited precision arithmetic and extendable unlimited hierarchies of data structures, REXX is well-matched to the class of hardware that users can finally afford to buy." (Peter Coffee, PC Week, 2Aug93) "While other 32-bit operating systems are struggling to just make it to the desktop, OS/2 is all grown up. With version â2.1ã, OS/2 (a PC/Computing 1992 MVP winner) is not just powerful, but incredibly usable. The best news about Version 2.1 is its uncompromising support for Windows 3.1 applications and popular peripherals--specifically CD-ROM players and a longer list of printers âmore than 250ã. Another surprise: OS/2 now comes with IBM's slick Multimedia Presentation Manager/2 (MMPM/2), making the operating system a powerful multimedia engine. Version 2.1 adds 32-bit versions of the Graphics Engine and High Performance File System (HPFS), making this a complete 32-bit, multitasking, multithreading operating system. The good news is that Version 2.1 is available on CD-ROM." (Tracey Capen, PC/Computing, Aug93) "There are ... significant advantages to moving beyond Windows or PC-DOS to OS/2. The first of OS/2's strengths is the oldest--the ability to keep the system up and running when one window crashes. The fact that OS/2 protects the system from such events is a major benefit. âSãecond, in the 32-bit video subsystem, OS/2 can provide greater varieties of color and performance, which makes some of the new multimedia applications much slicker. Finally, OS/2 2.1 will allow pre-emptive multitasking, enabling the user, not the applications, to schedule what session is going to take priority. OS/2 2.1 âisã raising the ante in the card game." (Aaron Goldberg, PC Week, 26Jul93) "âUãnproven NT is getting a healthy dose of skepticism from IS managers. 'OS/2 is a mature operating system--it took years for IBM to get it right,' said an NT beta tester currently using OS/2 to develop applications for a large bank. OS/2's relative stability âcompared to NTã has drawn customers who require an operating system for mission-critical applications. 'I don't see what NT offers that OS/2 doesn't offer today,' said Neil Ferraiuolo, senior analyst at AIG trading Corp., a commodities trading firm in Greenwich, Conn." (Marc Ferranti, PC Week, 26Jul93) "Think of a system that offers significant advantages to the huge installed base of Intel microprocessors, provides true downward compatibility, costs less âthan NTã, requires less hardware and is outselling everything else in its class by a wide margin. Once, that system was Windows 3.0. Today OS/2 2.1 fits the description." (Richard E. Hodges, PC Week, 5Jul93) "IBM has built a mature, powerful, ready-for-prime-time operating system. It runs applications that require Window 3.1. Its multimedia capabilities are impressive. It supports DDE among Windows and OS/2 applications. VARs specializing in multimedia should sell OS/2. Integrators developing custom applications for internal use by corporate clients would be well-served ... by OS/2 2.1." (Joel Shore, Computer Reseller News, 7Jun93) OS/2 2.1 "gives us the ability to run 64 telephone lines into a single PC, and by the end of this year we will be able to run 5 T-1 lines âwith 24 lines eachã on a single machine. I know this can't be done in Windows 3.1. We tried it but couldn't go beyond two or three applications ârunning at onceã before it would start to slow down. Windows just wasn't designed to support this kind of multitasking." (Gary Green, president of Evergreen Systems, Inc., a supplier of voice and fax services and equipment, quoted in PC Week Supplement, 24May93) OS/2 2.1 "can even enhance applications written for another operating system. For example, Windows applications can be made to pre-emptively multitask between one another, which is not possible on plain Windows 3.1." (Eamonn Sullivan, PC Week Supplement, 24May93) "The Workplace Shell is extremely flexible. There's a way to do just about anything. In fact, there are probably three ways to do anything." (Larry J. Seltzer, PC Week Supplement, 24May93) "MMPM/2 (Multimedia Presentation Manager/2) extensions to OS/2 2.1 ... allow users to view several video clips simultaneously. âUãnlike Microsoft Corp.'s Windows, which requires a video board to view 15 frames per second, MMPM/2 will speed that to 30/24 frames per second, without hardware assistance." (Aileen Crowley, PC Week Supplement, 24May93) OS/2 2.1 "runs some Windows 3.1 applications 20 to 30 percent faster than native Windows." (David Moskowitz, president of Productivity Solutions, Inc., a consulting firm, quoted in PC Week, 17May93) "âOS/2 2.1ã is indeed the most superior OS available. It is technologically far ahead of any rival. It is backwardly and downwardly more compatible than its nearest competitor. OS/2 â2.1ã therefore represents the best springboard mankind possesses today for a great leap forward into personal computer empowerment for tomorrow's masses." (Edwin Black, OS/2 Professional, May93) "Enter OS/2 2.1--and it's a whole new game. âTãhere's now a certain snap to the way OS/2 2.1 works. It's kind of like the high-quality sound you get when you slam the door on a Mercedes. Something in the feel tells you that it is solid, rugged and dependable. âIãt's impossible to get away from comparisons to Windows 3.1. Most impressive in OS/2 2.1's new feel is the solid and zippy performance of Win-OS2 3.1. Like many DOS programs when running under OS/2, the modified version of Windows 3.1 âbuilt into 2.1ã runs faster under OS/2 than under DOS 5.0. âTãhe extra zip is noticeable throughout Win-OS2. All in all, OS/2 brings many welcome changes and new capabilities. Most important to many users is the now-fulfilled promise of better Windows than Windows. With Microsoft downplaying NT (Bill Gates was quoted recently as saying "If you don't know why you need NT, then you probably don't need NT"), OS/2 2.1 looms as the frustrated Windows user's best bet for a stable environment, a clear computing future, and preemptive multitasking." (Herb Tyson, OS/2 Professional, May93) These are press clippings on OS/2 2.0 since November 1992. "Weighed against all the other products available, our readers said--in a very strong voice--that OS/2 2.0 was the most important product of 1992." (InfoWorld, 26Apr93) "OS/2 multitasking capabilities provide one important network feature that is often overlooked--the ability to support multiple concurrent network requesters. Using OS/2 2.0, it is quite possible to run the IBM, Novell and Banyan requesters concurrently, allowing a user to log in to multiple networks simultaneously." (Jim Gilliland, OS/2 Professional, Mar/Apr93) "Beginners say that after one day with OS/2 they are doing things they were afraid to even try with DOS. As such, any investment in DOS and Windows is not only protected, it is supercharged. OS/2 may indeed be the operating system of tomorrow. But more important, it is the operating system of today." (Paul Duncanson, Jr., OS/2 Professional, Jan93) "The operating system Windows 3.1 should have been." (PC/Computing, Dec92) "OS/2 has a lot of strengths in terms of handling multiple threads. It is almost impossible to do real multimedia without it." (Jeff Tarter, editor of SoftLetter, quoted in InfoWorld, 30Nov92) "OS/2 has a lot of strengths in terms of handling multiple threads. It is almost impossible to do real multimedia without it." (Jeff Tarter, editor of SoftLetter, quoted in InfoWorld, 30Nov92) These are press clippings about IBM PC DOS "The installation of an operating system doesn't end once you've transferred files from floppy disks. In our tests, PC DOS 6.1 and its RAMBoost optimizer provided the most conventional memory--620K.... No Operating system improvement has been so welcomed as disk compression. DoubleSpace in MS-DOS 6.2 took the longest to compress the drive (21 minutes), produced the least free space (about 160MB), and the least total space (about 225MB). PC DOS 6.1 and Novel DOS 7 took about 13 minutes to compress the drive. PC DOS led slightly in the amount of free space--179MB compared to about 176MB under Novell DOS. Both can create compressed floppy disks that can be read by any PC regardless of whether that PC is using the compression scheme that created them. And, PC DOS 6.1 will read Stacker compressed drives directly; MS-DOS 6.2 will not. PC DOS 6.1 has a full-screen DOS undelete feature that's easier to use and more versatile than Novell's full-screen counterpart. PC DOS 6.1 is the only operating system to provide a complete set of full-screen, full-function undelete, backup, and antivirus tools. PC DOS 6.1 is the only one ... that supports 1/4-inch tape and SCSI tape drives for easily backing up your files. (Ron White, PC/Computing Magazine, Jan94) "Our test results ... reinforce the fact that MS-DOS 6.2 and PC DOS 6.1 are very similar operating systems. We found greater difference in results from our testing of the bundled utilities, which is where the two DOSes differ the most. Running our backup test suite showed PC DOS 6.1 noticeably faster at backing up and restoring to both the network and floppy disks. âFinal Score: PC-DOS: 8.5; MS-DOS: 7.9ã (John M. Goodman, InfoWorld Magazine, 24Jan94) "If you're a novice, I'd recommend IBM's PC-DOS 6.1. âTãhe third-party utilities bundled with PC-DOS are first-rate. They are complete third-party programs rather than the crippled versions that come with MS-DOS. So why is PC-DOS the best option for novices? Documentation, for one thing. Along with a full set of conventional books, the package has Que's Everyday DOS, a good beginner's text that costs $16.95 if bought separately. What's really amazing is IBM's support policy. Voice support isn't just free, it's toll-free--an incredible bargain in an age when most companies nickel-and-dime you to death when you're ill-prepared to argue. This by itself might be a compelling reason to pick PC-DOS. If you call more than twice, you might save more than the cost of the product on support. (Brett Glass, PC World Magazine, Jan94) These are press clippings about other IBM products "IBM's VisualAge, released last month, is quite a break from IBM tradition. Mainframe rigidity and text-based panels are gone, replaced by the interactive sizzle of Smalltalk-based visual tools. VisualAge is an industrial-strength product, improving on the error handling and large-program performance of Digitalk Inc.'s Smalltalk/V and PARTS ... Workbench...." (PC Week, 25Apr94) "VisualAge is the most exciting development tool I've seen ... in a long time. It's IBM's new visual development environment, and it's a knockout. VisualAge is a fully visual, object-oriented environment that works well for individual developers and has impressive features for teams. It lets you build applications and GUIs by pointing and clicking and drawing connections from one place to another. Equally or more important is a comprehensive set of DLL services that allow you to encapsulate, use, and reuse legacy code, including smart input and output interfaces that let you do pre- or post-processing on the data being passed between the legacy code and the applications you're generating. VisualAge applications can be surprisingly complex without writing a line of code. If you do need to write code, you drop into Smalltalk. IBM ... acquired the technology underlying VA from Object technologies International. OTI's products are robust and well respected by the object-oriented crowd and by Smalltalk insiders in particular. VA has three great strengths: visual development, database access, and use of legacy code." (Bill Machrone, PC Week, 11Apr94) "Development software for a complex and sophisticated operating environment such as OS/2 requires a significant suite of tools, as well as comprehensive, technical information resources. IBM C Set++ for OS/2, Version 2.1, represents a successful attempt at meeting most of these needs in a single package. âFãor any serious OS/2 developer, the solid professional tools of C Set++ are a must." (Thomas E. Siering, PC Magazine, 29Mar94) "There are ... some terrific development tools and utilities for OS/2, among them IBM's own C/Set++...." (Will Zachmann, OS/2 Professional, Mar94) "IBM's Person to Person/2 is an OS/2 program that lets you create a realtime, extended computer conference. It works over ISDN or asynchronous connections, and with ... NetBIOS, TCP/IP, and NetWare 3.1x LANs. With the appropriate hardware you can even add video conferencing to the process. âP2Pã is actually a collection of tools. The Chalkboard, arguably the most used module, is an electronic whiteboard. You can paste text and graphics from virtually any OS/2, DOS, or Windows application into the Chalkboard for all to see. A Mirror function keeps the Chalkboard image up to date should the actual data of the source application change. The Talk tool is similar to a "chat" session on a BBS. It has the added advantage that a log is kept of everything being "said." The File Transfer tool moves files from one system to another.... âP2P'sã Video tool adds a tremendous sense of immediacy and vitality to the conferencing process. Using an IBM ActionMedia Display Adapter and a video camera, you can send and receive live video, or share captured images via the Chalkboard or Clip utility. Even without an ActionMedia card, you can receive video using software emulation. âTãhe ability to collaborate through a network and even cross-country, with or without video, has the potential of being a real productivity booster." (Dennis Fowler and Esther Schindler, Computer Shopper Magazine, Mar94) "Offered as part of IBM's OS/2 2.1, Multimedia Presentation Manager/2 beats anything you'll find in Windows. It's full of intuitive extras, from simple things like a volume-control knob icon to a well-laid-out master screen. Build on this with IBM's Ultimedia software, and you've got a killer combination." (Matthew Lake and Ron White, PC/Computing, Dec93) "With Ultimedia Workplace/2 IBM brings the light-table metaphor to OS/2 and extends it to include text, graphics, video, presentation, and sound files, so you can organize and catalog your multimedia files. Creating a light table is as easy as creating any OS/2 object--simply drag the Light Table template to the desktop or folder, and you're ready to start cataloging. Double-clicking on any file type opens the appropriate browser or another associated program of your choice. âIt letsã you link light-table folders to dBASE IV, DB2/2, and OS/2 Database Manager, and Oracle databases to store and then later search for additional file information. Workplace/2 will appeal to users who are constantly creating media files, but who want a better way to track them than simple folders." (Rich Santalesa, Computer Shopper Magazine, Apr94) "With the release of a new multimedia authoring trio ... IBM is stepping to the forefront of business graphics. Ultimedia Builder/2 combines a multimedia authoring studio, similar to a Multimedia ToolBook, and a business graphics applications, in the realm of Harvard Graphics.... A companion product, Ultimedia Workplace/2 is the best multimedia browser-and-management system I've seen, and Ultimedia Perfect Image/2 is a well-executed scanner and image-editing application. âWorkplace/2'sã run-time feature lest you play back your presentation on any OS/2 machine. Perfect Image/2 provides the final ingredient, allowing you to capture images from a video camera, VCR, still video camera, or television; edit them; and save them in a variety of formats. If you haven't yet experienced OS/2 multimedia, you'll discover it's completely different from the sometimes cheesy experience offered by Windows multimedia. IBM's implementation uses less disk space, plays back at twice the frame size, and doesn't suffer as much signal loss and jerkiness. Because its OS/2, your spreadsheet can recalculate in the background while your animation plays." (Joe Abernathy, PC World Magazine, Jan94) âFãor net managers committed to carrying multiprotocol traffic over FDDI networks âIBM's DatagLANce LAN analyzerã furnishes a very strong helping hand." (Data Communications Magazine, 21Jan94) "OS/2 LAN Server 3.0 Advanced is a real network comparable to NetWare in capabilities, reliability, and difficulty in using. If you need to network OS/2, DOS, and W4WG workstations, it will do the job, and if you have many OS/2 systems to network, it's clearly a good choice." (Jerry Pournelle, Byte Magazine, May94) "And what about OS/2 LAN Server? In PC Week Labs performance tests, OS/2 LAN Server did remarkably well." (David Berlind, PC Week, 11Apr94) "IBM's OS/2 LAN Server Advanced V3.0 ... has the second fastest throughput (after NetWare), which makes it suitable for medium to large networks. Running our 10-user business application test, LAN Server was 2 percent faster than Microsoft's âNTã Advanced Server.... âIn theã 50-user test ... it was 34 percent faster than Advanced Server. Like Microsoft's NOS, IBM's LAN Server organizes ... network resources into domains. Changing domain names is considerably easier with LAN Server: Microsoft's Advanced Server ... forces you to reinstall the operating system. âUãnlike Advanced Server, IBM's NOS lets you define a backup domain controller during installation. If you want to change its status, you either rerun the installation utility or use the Net Accounts command. Compared with other NOS vendors, IBM provides generous support policies. It provides free technical support through an 800 number. Free support is also available through IBM's CompuServe forum or Prodigy. IBM also maintains an in-house bulletin board, and you can get technical tips and updates on the ASK PSP CD-ROM. To cap off IBM's support policies, it offers customers a 30-day money-back guarantee." âComparison of 5 network operating systems, including NetWare 3.12, NetWare 4.01, Windows NT Advanced Server V3.1, and Banyan Vines V5.5ã (Tracey Capen, InfoWorld, 10Jan94) "LANQuest labs last week released a test report that IBM LAN Server Advanced Version 3.0 outperformed Microsoft's Windows NT Advanced Server (NTAS) and LAN Manager Version 2.2 using nine DOS and Windows applications. LANQuest found LAN Server Advanced was 45% faster than NT and 8% faster than LAN Manager in a 100-node net." (Network World Magazine, 11Oct93) "Overall, IBM LAN Server Advanced V3.0 supported up to 4 times the number of users and 2.4 times the peak throughput of Microsoft's Windows NT Advanced Server V3.1, in these tests." âCopies of this report may be requested by dialing 800-IBM-4FAX and selecting document 2347.ã (LANquest report, Oct93) "IBM OS/2 2.1 provided the broadest native connectivity of the client operating systems we tested. Network access integrates easily into the Workplace Shell, right down to the printer objects. As with most clients, the only server that OS/2 had problems connecting to was Windows NT Advanced Server, which wouldn't support any of the clients except Windows NT and Macintosh. Ironically, the best DOS solution turned out to be OS/2. We could get more DOS connectivity from our OS/2 DOS sessions than from DOS itself, and we still had plenty of RAM left over for each DOS session." âComparison of 8 client operating systems, including Macintosh System 7.1, MS DOS, OS/2, SCO Open Desktop, Solaris, UnixWare Personal Edition, Windows and Windows NT, communicating to various network operating systems, including A/UX, NetWare 3.11, NetWare 4.01, OS/2 LAN Server, SCO Open Server Enterprise System, Solaris, UnixWare Application Server, and Windows NT Advanced Serverã (Nicholas Petreley, Nancy Durlester, and Laura Wonnacott, InfoWorld, 15Nov93) OS/2 is probably the best environment for communications. The OS/2 Communications Manager supports so many protocols, you can connect âOS/2 and LAN Serverã with almost anything,' âSteveã Rabin âdirector of development technologies at American Software Inc.ã says." (Alan Radding, InfoWorld, 29Nov93) "Do you want to create a super networked client that can connect to TCP, NetWare, and NetBEUI networks concurrently? You can. Indeed, IBM's own TCP/IP âfor OS/2ã software ... is one of the best such products on any operating system." (David Strom, InfoWorld, 06Dec93) "We installed and configured IBM's TCP/IP, Version 2.0 for OS/2 to work with NetWare and LAN Server requesters. And try as we might to get results to the contrary, practically everything went smoothly. Sigh. What fun is that? Do you have any idea how difficult it is for three cynics to write about success? We reboot the system. To our surprise and delight, the machine loads all the NetWare requester drivers without a single hitch. No fussing with the NET.CFG file. No tricks with the PROTOCOL.INI file. Not even a single line of CONFIG.SYS file tweaking. It just works. And although we haven't had time to benchmark, it sure looks like TCP/IP, Version 2.0 for OS/2 runs significantly faster using IBM's NDIS driver than when we were using Novell's ODINSUP driver." (Nicholas Petreley, Nancy Durlester, Laura Wonnacott, InfoWorld Magazine, 11Oct93) "In many corporations, the core tool for meeting âtransaction processingã needs comes from IBM. I refer to IBM's CICS (Customer Information Control System). Not too long ago it was impossible to endorse CICS without recommending, in effect, a mainframe-based architecture--and a Blue-labeled one at that. But, IBM has been moving aggressively toward multiplatform offerings for CICS. IBM's CICS for OS/2 is priced âaffordablyã and already represents the majority of CICS' installed base of roughly 60,000 licenses." (Peter Coffee, PC Week Magazine, 13Dec93) "The IBM Personal Dictation System, or IPDS, brings computer-based dictation services to a mainstream corporate audience. The system combines a voice-controlled application interface with a sophisticated dictation system. Combining a command interface with dictation technology enables you to create and save documents in a completely "hands-free" environment: You can dictate and enter system commands with your voice. Once I got the hang of speaking with a pause between words, I dictated fairly quickly, up to 70 words per minute. âTãhe system improved as I read additional documents into it. The adaptive language model does its job well. âIãn general, the system is very accurate--considerably better than other computer-based dictation systems I've used. Voice macros were simple to create and extremely convenient. For instance, I could say "open letter," and the system would print my name and address, the current date, and a general salutation. You can generate often-used phrases or paragraphs by simply saying a single word. Voice-controlled computers are no longer relegated to the realm of science fiction or even to specialized nich markets; viable speech recognition has arrived on the desktop." (Stanford Diehl, Byte Magazine, May94) "An emerging area where IBM has committed huge resources and has attained a marked lead is speech recognition. Over the past year the company has demonstrated and released a number of speech-recognition products, including the very impressive Personal Dictation system for OS/2. IBM recently showed OS/2 Professional an amazing new speech-recognition technology âICSSã that is speaker-independent and can recognize words spoken in a natural rhythm.... This technology could have a huge impact on the speech-recognition market." (Rich Malloy, Edwin Black, and Bradley Kliewer, OS/2 Professional, Jan94) "IBM programmers have created a new client/server speech recognition system that understands any speaker in the language it's been told to listen to. There's no need to train the computer for a particular person's speech, as has been the case with earlier systems. The âIBM Continuous Speech Series (ICSS)ã system was designed ... to take advantage of OS/2's multithreading capability to give it faster response. In addition, because ICSS is a client/server product, the user interface, which is the client on ICSS, can be doing one thing (such as listening to a phoneme) while the recognition engine on the server is doing something else (such as analyzing the previous phoneme). IBM is selling ICSS as a software developer's kit, so that anyone can speech-enable an application. The only hardware support that's required is an analog-to-digital converter supported by OS/2. This includes such readily available devices as the SoundBlaster from Creative Labs. Some computers, including the IBM ThinkPad 750, already include an A-to-D chip, so all you need to add is a microphone and a speaker. In short, there's no particularly specialized hardware required. Many OS/2 users can simply load the software and run the package. In the past, speech recognition systems had to be trained to the voice of a specific user. Usually, no one else could use such a system without first retraining it. ICSS is different because it will understand any user of a particular language, including those who speak it badly or with accents. Some experts have called ICSS one of the most important products of the decade. âIãt's clear that IBM has an important product. ...ICSS offers users and developers a reasonably priced and capable client/server solution to true speech recognition." (Wayne Rash, Jr., OS/2 Professional, Jan94) "IBM has quietly been working on getting you and your computer on speaking terms. The ICSS is the result of those efforts. It is an OS/2- and AIX-based speaker-independent speech-recognition technology that allows you to give your system commands by talking to it. ICSS will someday reduce many common tasks, such as retrieving E-mail or loading applications, to a one- or two-word spoken command." (Byte Magazine, Jan94) "IBM ... has the widest range of speech products. IBM's products cover the voice-recognition waterfront: speaker-dependent, speaker-independent, continuous speech, and discrete words. The cost of entry varies from a $99 package that allows users to navigate Windows menus to a $4,000 development kit that requires an RS/6000 or a Pentium-based workstation." (Bill Machrone, PC Week Magazine, 01Nov93) "âEãven though voice recognition is still in its undergraduate years, IBM VoiceType Control for Windows belongs at the head of the class. With this modest but well-designed speaker-independent program, you can give commands to Windows programs verbally, instead of via the mouse or keyboard. It's only for commands, not for speech-to-text dictation. Yet VoiceType is accurate and easy to use. VoiceType comes with sets of voice commands for numerous programs, including Word for Windows and CorelDraw. Besides application-specific vocabularies, it features a core group of ever-present vocabulary words that work in any Windows application. The program is smart enough to realize when you switch applications, and will automatically change vocabularies you. Creating new vocabularies, or adding, deleting, and editing commands in existing ones, is easy. VoiceType for Windows is inexpensive and was to use. It can make computing easier for those who do a lot of repetitive typing (data entry, for instance), and for the physically handicapped." (David Haskin, Computer Shopper, Oct93)