Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!microsoft!alistair
From: alistair@microsoft.UUCP (Alistair BANKS)
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.programmer
Subject: Re: OS/2 2.0 APIs
Keywords: OS/2 2.0 API
Message-ID: <57199@microsoft.UUCP>
Date: 5 Sep 90 21:31:06 GMT
References: <1990Sep4.130929.16442@sun1.ruf.uni-freiburg.de>
Reply-To: alistair@microsoft.UUCP (Alistair BANKS)
Distribution: comp
Organization: Microsoft Corp., Redmond WA
Lines: 34

In article <1990Sep4.130929.16442@sun1.ruf.uni-freiburg.de> seifert@sun1.ruf.uni-freiburg.de (Ulrich Seifert) writes:
>One of the features that are completely unclear to me concern the new APIs.
>As far as I read there will be the "old" 16-bit API and a new 32-bit API.
>Some Kbd, Mou,...  will be discontinued.
>Well, what I don't see in the moment is how software development is supposed
>to work in future.

As has been stated in these comp.os.os2.... areas before, OS/2 2.0
has all the APIs that are in OS/2 1.X including the KBD, MOU & VIO
subsystems - these are all 16-bit APIs.

OS/2 2.0 add 32-bit APIs - these are an addition, they do not
preclude use of the 16-bit APIs, nor do they preclude use of 16-bit
applications - OS/2 2.0 is a true superset of OS/2 1.X.

Some of the duplicated functionality will not be brought into the
32-bit APIs. VIO, MOU & KBD all fall into that arena.  Successful
OS/2 applications will be graphical, and there are very rich facilities
for aquiring mouse & keyboard events using either the PM APIs or the
Windoes APIs with the Software Migration Kit (SMK) on OS/2.  The VIO
subsystem does not mix well with either the Win or PM APIs, and was
only useful when porting 16-bit character applications quickly from the DOS
world. Also, one of Microsoft's duties is to provide direction to
the industry - we have said that Microsoft's Operating System family
will be ported to run on non x86 machines over time - that means
non-PCs. You will quickly realise that KBD, MOU & VIO are simply
extensions of DOS-based, BIOS & x86 concepts, and that they are
not very portable - so Microsoft is giving direction that the 32-bit
API should be for either 'detached' style server apps, stdin/stdout
filter-type apps or full GUI apps.

Alistair Banks
OS/2 Group
Microsoft