Text of IBM OS/2 CompuServe Conference
April, 1993
------------------- TEXT OF CIS CONFERENCE --------------------------------
(#1,Irv Spalten [IBM]) Welcome, today we have 4 members of the OS/2
development organization here. Shon Saliga, Ross
Cook, Jack Boyce, and Laura Sanders. You may ask
any question of any one, and we will redirect if
necessary. I ask that the IBM'ers hold thier
questions to the end. To ask a question, you
issue a /QUE and you will be put into a queue.
When you are done with the question, place a GA
at the end so we know.
(#1,Irv Spalten [IBM]) Shon, would like to say a few words...
(#3,IBM OS/2 Beta Panel) (Shon) Thank you for joining us this evening.
We are looking forward to a candid session. As
you may know, we have just shipped our latest
Beta driver which contains much of the feedback
received from the first Beta driver. In
addition, we have modified our CompuServe Forum
to list the problems that you will identify in
this Beta and our development status for those
problems. Our experience with the Beta program
has been outstanding. We are very fortunate to
have had exceptional participation from many of
you. So let's get started.
(#1,Irv Spalten [IBM]) OK, we are ready...
(#1,Irv Spalten [IBM]) First question please
(#13,David Hutt) I have a question regarding AS/400 DDM support for OS/2
Is AS/400 Distrubuted Data Management supported on
OS/2, and if so, does the Os/2 side support both target
and source?
GA
(#3,IBM) (Jack) OS/2 2.1 will be supported as an improved AS400 client
via RUMBA for OS/2 as well as Communications Manager/2.
This will be based on improvements in 2.1 and follow-on
announcements from AS400. Does this answer your
question?
GA
(#13,David Hutt) Yes. I believe so. Just for the record the goal that I
am seeking: Since OS/2 and large size Ps/2 systems
could now be used as in-store processors (instead of
AS/400's), it would be neat to use an OS/2 file server
as the source DDM and the IBM 4680 controllers to use
the existing target DDM support.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #4
Tony Valenti (20)
(#20,Tony Valenti) I would like to know the status of the C++ Class
Libraries. Have the Libraries been updated on the
March PDK? Will there be further updates soon? TV
(#3,IBM) (Laura) Yes, but I don't have the specific details of which
classes were updated but this is discussed in the new
PDK. GA
% Moderator recognizes question #6
Larry [GCP] (9)
(#9,Larry [GCP]) I'm very concerned about the overall stability of the
2.1 betas. From what I've seen so far, there's a
*very* long way to go before this code is ready to
ship. I was never able to get the 12/92 beta
installed, and after running the 3/93 (498G) for the
last week, when I lost my OS/2 partition for the 4th
time last night, I gave up on this cut of the 2.1
beta. While it shows great potential, and the windows
3.1 compatibilityy shows great promise, it's just not
stable enough to be usable ... yet. How is IBM going
to insure that the customers will receive a usable (&
stable) product when 2.1 does ship when the "last
public beta" is so shakey?
ga
(#3,IBM) (Shon) Fortunately, not all of our users have had this level
of difficulty in using the current Beta. My entire
development team (>250) developers have this
installed throughout the center. I am aware of some
problems relating to the recent INI file update which
we incorporated into this Beta in order to improve
system stability size of the INI files and
performance. It was important this set of problems
in the GA product and our experience in the Beta
fortunately has identified a set of problems that we
are pursuing agressively and therefore will be fixed
in the GA product. Our ship decision for OS/2 2.1
will clearly be based on the feedback from our
customers, Beta testers, large ISV's, internal
testing, and will be shipped when it's ready. If you
have specific problems in the development of your
applications, please use the CIS forums to report
your problems and we will take appropriate action.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #7
Alan Able (15)
(#15,Alan Able) Thank You...and Happy 1St Birthday for OS/2 2.0 (and
Thanks for all the hard work)...My question
follows... Well, Happy 1st birthday to OS/2 2.0!
Thsanks to all the hard work from the development
staff...I am quite pleased with the technical
capabilities of OS/2/exit I am interested in
development of OS/2 WPS applications using SOM and
C++. Understanding that the PDK's are shipping with
BETA code,,,what type of support is planned for SOM
bindings for C++? What kind of time frame?
GA
(#3,IBM) (Ross) We are committed to support the C++ SOM bindings for
the Workplace shell in OS/2 2.1 and the associated
toolkit. We are currently testing that support.
Thanks for the Happy Birthday.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #8
Mark Addleman (42)
(#42,Mark Addleman) When can we expect to see WpS enabled applets? I'm not looking for increased functionality, just something to show off to my Mac-centric
Oops
When can we expect to see WPS enabled applets? I'm
not looking for increased functionality, just
something to show off to my Mac-centric friends :)
Also, what can we expect in the future regarding
increased WPS functionality?
GA
(#3,IBM) (Laura) We are assessing the best of the bunch right now.
Stay tuned.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #9
Ronald S. Woan (12)
(#12,Ronald S. Woan) When do you think 2.1 upgrade pricing and
distribution details will be made public, i.e. will
the 2.1 upgrade be sold directly or through retail
outlets?
GA
(#3,IBM) (Laura) Upgrade will be made available through all
channels. Pricing and distribution will be
released to channels prior to GA at and contained
in the announcement.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #10
Eric Pinnell (29)
(#29,Eric Pinnell) I am not a happy camper. I too am very
disappointed by beta 6.498. My concern is with the
beta testing procedures being used. I have been
told that internal testing at IBM would spot the
seroius flaws. Obviously, based on what I have
seen of 6.498, this is not the case. EVERY single
other ISV I have ever beta tested for (literally
dozens of firms) sends out regular betas to small
groups of outside testers to make sure the bugs are
worked out. the issue isn't whwther a beta works
in the lab, it is whether not not it works on the
users machines. Given this fact, when is IBM going
to adopt this policy so that we can see stable beta
releases?
GA
(#3,IBM) (Jack) We exploit every opportunity to test this Beta in
every environment we can think of. That includes
ISV's, OEM's, large customer sites, internal
testing, and the Beta programs. A Beta program is
meant to identify problems in code that has been
introduced since the previous beta. As opposed to
something that constantly gets better. If this
Beta was rock solid and perfect, we wouldn't give
it to you for free.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #13
Leif Braeuer (ger) (8)
(#8,Leif Braeuer (ger)) OK
Hello, my question relates to some "multi-user"
features of the WPS. First I found some *ACL*
files in the dec. 2.1 beta. Are they what they
seem to be? What kind of user access control
will there be? At second will ther be a LAN-base
WPS (a user logs into a server and gets his/her
WPS)
GA
(#3,IBM) (Ross) The ACL files you found in the Dec. 2.1 Beta
allowed us to install over a Lan requester. As
far as multiple user workplace shell we have
done a lot of investigation in this area and
will consider it strongly for the next release.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #14
Juan Falcon (46)
(#46,Juan Falcon) What are your plans for supporting Windows apps
once the current license expires later this
year?
(#3,IBM) (Jack) We have all the rights we need to continue to
support windows applications for the
foreseeable future. Of course, investing our
time to do this will be based on the market
demand for the constant evolving WIN/nn API.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #15
Carlos Barberena (43)
(#43,Carlos Barberena) OS/2 2.1 Beta looks great! Very Stable. Will
there be any additional enhancements to it
including some kind of way of saving the WPS icon
locations, implementing OLE under OS/2, etc of
significance that is not on the beta?
ga
GA send
send
GA
(#3,IBM) (Laura) We won't be adding any significant function
prior to shipping OS/2 2.1. Our future function
is currently under development. Our OLE
implementation is included in that. GA (Laura)
P.S. Carlos, it's great to hear about oyour
positive experience.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #20
Tom Satter (61)
(#61,Tom Satter) I personally like the Beta policy (other than I
haven't received the March beta yet). When do
you expect the GA to be ready? I have heard May?
It seems to me that OS/2 still does have a
stability problem. While I can now use OS/2 for
days with no problem, that is mainly because I
have learned what to stay away from. One of
OS/2's biggest selling points is that it is a
stable (protected) environment. It is possible
to write a 20 line program that will lockup OS/2
completely (no Ctrl-Alt-Del even.) Sure, the
program had bug (called WinCreateStdWindow with a
null anchor - or some such thing) but this is
exactly why OS/2 uses the protected mode of the
'386 - to trap such mistakes and halt the
offending process rather than die. Does the 2.1
March beta address an stability issues? Thanks!
(Also, thanks for all of the hard work. OS/2 is
a great O/S!)
GA
GA
(#3,IBM) ((Shon) Yes, the March Beta has a number of fixes that
address stability but we know we are not done
yet. We will ship GA when it's ready.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #21
Brian Bonner (45)
(#45,Brian Bonner) 3. What IBM programs are available to assist folks
in bringing new OS/2 type products to market???
For example, if we create tools that are not
developed in C or C++, but REXX...
I've got the new 6.498 beta. It's better than
the other's (I had numerous lockups before. Now
it's only limited to a few...) Did you get that?
GA
GA
(#3,IBM) 3. Brian, there are programs to help assist folks to
bring OS/2 products to market. The DAP -
Developers Assistance Program. Enter GO OS2DAP
on CompuServe to register and get more
information.
% Moderator recognizes question #22
Garnett Gleim (32)
(#32,Garnett Gleim) How long will you be supporting OS/2 2.0,
subsequent to 2.1's release? We have numerous
remote sites that are using 2.0 for very
important production applications. An upgrade
path to higher versions of OS/2 is quite a large
undertaking for us.
GA
(#3,IBM) (Laura) OS/2 2.0 will be supported via IBM Service for
approximately two years from it's general
availability. We are aware that moving to the
next level of the operating system takes time
and want customers to be comfortable with their
investment. New function will be exploited only
in new releases.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #24
Ken Wohlferd (16)
(#16,Ken Wohlferd) What do you see as the competition for OS/2, and
how will 2.1 help?
GA
(#3,IBM) (Laura) The competition OS/2 is varied based on
environments. 2.1 continues OS/2's standing as
both an excellent server and client solution.
Specific improvements in 2.1 includes support
for Windows 3.1 application, additional
extensive new hardware support and performance
improvements. We have also put alot of effort
into responding to customer environments
regarding the stability of the product. 2.1 has
many new features too numerous to detail here.
Is there a specific one you are interested in?
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #25
Tony Valenti (20)
(#20,Tony Valenti) I am very pleased with the latest beta, although
I did have some install problems which seemed to
be related to my Trident SVGA. I am surprised
that it is now working nicely in 1024x768
seamless. I will soon be trying the 8514 driver
because all our production machines use 8514.
Will there be a new version of the 8514 driver
in the near future? (PS.. Thanks for all the
good improvements...hope you are having fun too!
ga
(#3 Frank - IBM) We have a 8514 seamless driver available for the
March Beta. You can get it here on CompuServe in
the PSPBETA FORUM library.
ga.
% Moderator recognizes question #26
Larry [GCP] (9)
(#9,Larry [GCP]) I'll pass at this time. Thanks for a great OS!
% Moderator recognizes question #27
Axel Salomon (60)
(#60,Axel Salomon) Hallo. I have more than question ...
1. Will there be an intermediate Service Pack
for OS/2 2.0 or do we have to wait for OS/2 2.1
to be release (i mean a secend one)
2. When do you plan to release foreign Language
versions of OS/2 2.1 ? At the same time, shortly
after or months later (german version ?)
3. The current DDK lacks a lot of information
and looks like a quick build. (when) will there
be a next release ?
4. Even though 1993 will be the year of OS/2 2.x
32bit Apps. Will there be a PDK with LOTS (!!!)
of (small) samples on it, to help writing new
apps. including SOM+WPS, Win..., Gpi... and
other Funktions ?
5. What are your plans on Multimedia and the
current HW-Support ? My OS/2 2.1 works fine. i
am very impressed. tahnk you very much for your
strong support (DAP, etc)
GA
(#3,IBM) (Laura) We plan service for 2.0 independent of 2.1. Our
national language versions of OS/2 2.1 are
targetted for concurrent release with US for all
but DBCS products. Next DDK is being updated
now.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #28
Leif Braeuer (ger) (8)
(#8,Leif Braeuer (ger)) OK
My questions. Will 2.1 be available on CD-ROM
(as announeced for 2.0)? Will ther still be any
(thunked) 16 Bit code, or can we call it finally
puer 32-bit ? (Oh yes. OS/2 is a really good OS
! Keep on with this.)
GA
(#3,IBM) (Laura) Yes, it will be available on CD-ROM. Some
thunked code still exists. GA
% Moderator recognizes question #29
Juan Falcon (46)
(#46,Juan Falcon) What are your plans for supporting Windows apps
once the current license expires later this
year? Will the release of the GA 2.1 be affected
by the release of NT? NextStep? Solaris? Also,
will we see a "portable" OS/2? In my company,
scalability is what makes our management go for
Unix OSs instead of OS/2.
(#3,IBM) (Shon) You may have seen many recent articles regarding
our future direction relative to Workplace OS
which is a portable/scaleable operating system
which supports OS/2 apps, Windows apps, DOS
apps, UNIX apps. We demoed this at Fall COMDEX
and plan additional demonstrations and Beta's
this year.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #30
Vincent DeSanto (10)
(#10,Vincent DeSanto) Are you aware that installation for MS DOS 6.0
contains instructions for removing OS/2 from
your hard drive? Any comments? I think that
dirty. GA
(#3,IBM) (Shon) We are aware and appreciate your concern. GA
(#34,Ross Cook) Yes, I have heard this.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #31
Jeroen Frijters (21)
(#21,Jeroen Frijters) When will OS/2 be Pentium-optimized? As OS/2 is
leading tech. software it should be able to take
advantage of leading tech. hardware.
GA
(#3,IBM) (Jack) We are currently working our
Pentium-optimization into the OS/2 product.
Some will be in 2.1 and some in follow-on
releases. GA
% Moderator recognizes question #34
Bruce Beatty (40)
(#40,Bruce Beatty) I need your Help...We designed a new application
using OS/2 and Ripps last fall. We have tested
it under 12/92 Beta and it runs well. We need
to impliment this new application by early June,
1993. Based upon what I have heard there is
only a slim chance. What is your best guess
(90+%) of a final release date??? June???
July??? August??? I need to tell my users
something??? Thanks Bruce from Walt Disney
World.... GA
(#3,IBM) (Shon) We are targetting for release as soon as
possible based on Beta feedback and final
testing. I would be very surprised and
disappointed if this was as late as August. Say
hi to Mickey.
% Moderator recognizes question #35
Michael Hoodes (59)
(#59,Michael Hoodes) What is a REAL reasonable memory for running
Windows Apps. I have 8Mb ram and start with an
8Mb swapper. If I run 2 Win apps and PRINT
(TRUETYPE) I go past the 8Mb (9.5 ...). Will
this change in GA, OR should I add 6-8Mb more
RAM? (This is on 2.1 4.698 and previous levels.)
I don't forsee replacing my Windows apps very
quickly. BTW: I love OS/2 and WPS!!! Thanks.
GA
(#34,Ross Cook) It all depends on how much response you want
from your system. And how much memory these 2
applications really need.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #36
John Navas (38)
(#38,John Navas) What is the status of resolving the
compatibility problem between OS/2 and Phar
Lap's TNT extender, which is used in new Windows
tools from Microsoft like MASM 6.1 and Visual
C++ 1.0. Phar Lap claims that the problem is a
bug in OS/2. I first reported this to IBM some
months ago but so far have not been able to get
a definitive response.
GA
(#34,Ross Cook) No one here right now knows anything. Do you
have an APAR numberr?
GA
Navas, I was just corrected: we are in fact
working with Phar Lap right now on this.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #38
Ken Wohlferd (16)
(#16,Ken Wohlferd) Thanks for the 2.1 positioning answer. Next
question: How do you see Portable OS/2 and Pink
fitting in? As new releases for OS/2 or new
products? The press has been saying that OS/2
is a dead end because of these products. I can
assume that you don't agree?
GA
(#34,Ross Cook) We are looking into adapting Taligent technology
into OS/2 but none of this will happen in the
near future. At least no significant changes to
the current operation you know and love. A
portable version of OS/2 is a very interesting
point but there are lots of problems there -
mostly in how do we continue to support existing
16-bit applications with good performance.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #39
Leif Braeuer (ger) (8)
(#8,Leif Braeuer (ger)) Whats about new file systems ? Will there may be
support for other filesystems For example
Microsoftfs NTFS or UNIX NFS. Somewhere I heared
of using a object oriented filesystem in the
next release (someone mentioned Lotus Notes). GA
I think there is still a gap between the WPS and
OS/2
GA
(#3,IBM) (Ross) Our file server that we implemented on the
Workplace OS includes support for memory Mapped
files. We will continue to develop new
technologies and introduce them both in our
operating systems.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #40
Jeroen Frijters (21)
(#21,Jeroen Frijters) I know it is possible to add a menu-item to the
desktop menu. But, I would like to see it
possible to remove an item from the desktop menu
(specifically: arrange icons).
GA
(#3,IBM) (Jack) While it is not possible to remove the arranged
menu item, using the Workplace user interface.
You can do this by sub-classing the desktop
class and removing the menu item with one of the
methods. GA
% Moderator recognizes question #41
John Navas (38)
(#38,John Navas) A combo ( sorry :) disk question:
When can we expect native OS/2 disk compression?
Will it be compatible with DOS 6.0 (which I
expect to be When will OS/2 provide true
removable media support for devices like SyQuest
drives (preferably compatible with DOS)?
GA
(#3,IBM) (Ross) Many vendors are working on products for OS/2
disk compression. We are supporting these
vendors and expect them to release their
products soon. Not in OS/2 2.1 but we are
pursuing incorporating disk compression in OS/2.
DOS 6.0 disk compression is a question of
installing on top of DOS as opposed to
compressing OS/2 files. We are evaluating the
DOS 6.0 compression and how compatable it is
with other operating systems including OS/2.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #42
Brian Bonner (45)
(#45,Brian Bonner) What is the best way for suggestions for OS/2
2.X enhancements to hit IBM? It seems that in
this fast paced world, the old methods are too
slow... I have placed suggestions on the
PSPbeta, but I sometimes feel like they have
gone into a black hole. It would be nice if
there was a list kept somewhere of the
suggestions that you received, the one's you
will implement and the ones you won't. Perhaps
you can even use a vehicle like this to Vote on
them Here are some excerpts of the suggestions:
Perhaps share OS2TOOLS and nurture them for the
user community. Two good examples are NETFOLD
and PRIVF. These make it nice to shield people
from messing w/ the underlying system (hide the
command prompts, etc.) - great for kids... Be
nice to have the FORMAT for Drive A (and any
drive for that matter appear in the Window List.
I am formatting diskettes, while I use WINCIM,
w/ Excel and Word in the background, waiting for
me to finish my paper... Minimizing all of the
windows to find your format is done is a pain...
Locking down the Icons on the WPS (the question
seen earlier...) Avoiding the sort problem.
Guy Scharf suggested INTRCPT, but it may not do
what I need. Enabling the Launching of WPS apps
via DDE. In other words, when I launch a App,
like Excel by double clicking on a data icon, I
would NOT like to launch another copy by
clicking on another excel data icon. I want it
to put it in the ALREADY running APP...Right now
if I want to work w/ Data Icons, it takes too
long to load up a Windows session for each app
to get the kind of protection I want. I would
like to take advantage of the Crash protection
and interact with the WPS through DATA instead
of APPS...please help. Did you get the message I
send about Suggestions? and the black hole? I
was busy editing the message when my number was
called. Serves me right for typing so much. It
would be nice to keep a log (file somewhere) of
suggestions that people make and if and when IBM
will work on them. Right now it appears that
they go into a black hole, never to be seen
again. My suggestions are mostly user interface
questions... 1. Perhaps products from OS2TOOLS
can hit the public more quickly (i.e PRIVF and
NETFOLD)
(#3,IBM) (Laura) We capture suggestions from the forum and feed
that into the OS/2 Product Plan. We have
initiated with this Beta a feedback mechanism
and will consider using athe same feedback
mechanism for product enhancements. GA
(#1,Irv Spalten [IBM]) The OS2TOOLS stuff is processed individually by
employees
% Moderator recognizes question #43
Rick Arabian (26)
(#26,Rick Arabian) I am currently writing a true OS/2 2.X
multi-user BBS. I have had trouble cmmunicating
through two com ports at bps rates above 2400,
is IBM working to improve this or should I write
My own stuff?, HELP?!?!
(#3,IBM) (Jack) If you are protect mode application this should
work just fine. There are some problems on slow
machines with non protect mode applications. We
are pursuing all communication problems
agressively in the this product. If you have a
particular problem, please describe this on the
Beta forum.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #44
Bruce Beatty (40)
(#40,Bruce Beatty) Ref O/S 2 2.1 GA
If GA is not till August I may drop OS/2 and
redo my application Is there any chance for May,
June or July??? Mickey needs this
Application... Thanks...Bruce...
GA
(#3,IBM) (Shon) ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!!! Once again we would be happy
to go over your specific customer scenario.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #45
Tony Valenti (20)
(#20,Tony Valenti) Some people find the recommendation to format
before installing OS/2 on top of previous betas
onerous and intimidating. Why don't you publish
(in a readme?) a procedure for manually deleting
OS/2 to prepare for an install without losing
programs/data? (This way one could use the MS
DOS6 delete procedure for a good cause!)
ga
(#3,IBM) (Jack) There are several sharware programs that support
back up and restore of WPS objects that could be
used. While in some cases installing over
previous Beta's may work, we choose not to
support this.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #46
Leif Braeuer (ger) (8)
(#8,Leif Braeuer (ger)) Just to return to filesystems. Do you think
about extending HPFS with links (the feature I
like so much on the WPS). And second will there
be a HPFS support for removeable medias like
Syquest or the IBM Optical drives. GA And just
another question. The format of the OS2.INI has
changed. How do I migrate my 2.0GA desktop to
2.1
GA
(#3,IBM) (Jack) Last question first. When you install the
shipped 2.1 product it will automatically
migrate your 2.0 GA desktop. HPFS and FAT will
be modified to support removable medias
including Syquest and IBM Optical drives. GA
% Moderator recognizes question #47
John Navas (38)
(#38,John Navas) I find that the OS/2 system is too hard to
restore from back up for my clients. Are there
any plans to make it simpler to save/restore
critical system files to/from media like tape?
(We have tried and rejected Sytos, which
required a new OS/2 install before we could
restore, and that a kludge workaround to restore
system files in use.) When will OS/2 provide
true removable media support for devices like
SyQuest drives (preferably compatible with DOS)?
GA Amend SSyQuest question to WHEN?
(#3,IBM) (Laura) Yes, we plan to improve our backup/restore
utility.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #48
Ken Wohlferd (16)
(#16,Ken Wohlferd) Speaking of stuff I would like to see in OS/2:
The ease of use items are high on my list. The
CONFIG.SYS is worse than DOS, and that was
pretty bad. MAKEINI is a clumsy was to recover
my system. OS/2 needs built-in recovery. The
Backup/Restore process is a pain, booting from
diskettes and all. I presume these won't be
fixed in 2.1? Should I be pushing for 2.2?
GA
(#3,IBM) (Jack) The INI file changes made in the recent 2.1 Beta
are intended to address the problems that cause
you to do a MAKEINI in the first place. We
recognize the set of problems that you have
described here and will adress the problems in
this and future releases of OS/2.
GA
% Moderator recognizes question #49
Brian MacDonald (19)
(#19,Brian MacDonald) I'd like to know what the plans are for SOM
bindings for languages other than C++, ie.
SmallTalk. Any hints on when I can expect to see
them, ie. 2.1, 2.2 .... <pretty please ;-) >
GA
(#3,IBM) (Jack) DigitalK Talk has publically stated that they
will support SOM bindings in their products. We
will pursue any language binders that supply any
competitive advantages. GA
(#1,Irv Spalten [IBM]) Thanks folks, it has been fun...