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From: GD.SAR@forsythe.stanford.edu (Sandy Rockowitz)
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.misc
Subject: substantiated rumors
Message-ID: <1991May16.064957.16959@morrow.stanford.edu>
Date: 16 May 91 06:49:57 GMT
Sender: news@morrow.stanford.edu (News Service)
Organization: Data Center, Stanford University, California, USA
Lines: 33

Normally, I refrain from indulging in discussions of OS/2's commercial
viability.  We all know the arguments both pro and con, and I don't see
much point in wasting our time rehashing the question.

However, I'm making an exception tonight and justifying it to myself
by saying that it is actually news.  The following item is just too
juicy, not to mention reassuring to those of us who, while convinced
of OS/2's technical excellence, have been somewhat less certain of its
commercial viability.

This evening (Wednesday evening), Philippe Kahn spoke to the Silicon
Valley Software Entrepreneurs Forum.  He announced that, this afternoon,
Borland and IBM had concluded an agreement to supply 32 bit compilers
and other tools for OS/2 2.0 and Patriot Partners.  He left the meeting
to fly to New York for a joint announcement with IBM on Thursday.

I asked him about his statement at the C++ Professional rollout that
Borland had no plans for an OS/2 version and little interest in OS/2.
He responded that Borland had no intention of creating products for OS/2
1.x, but that OS/2 2.0 was a different matter.  Corporate customers are
"having terrible problems with Windows", and they need a protected mode,
multitasking, 32-bit operating system.  If IBM delivers the Windows
compatibility they have promised, OS/2 2.0 will succeed, though not
necessarily dominate the market.  Later, Win-32 will be a viable
alternative.

So there it is.  Enjoy it.  Let's not consume too much bandwidth
gloating about it, but if someone could post the actual details of
the agreement as they become available, I'm sure we would all
be appreciative.

Sandy Rockowitz
gd.sar@forsythe.stanford.edu