OS/2 Warp Server to Support Windows 95, NT Clients

July 5th, 2007

IBM later this week will announce a new version of its OS/2 Warp 4.0 server that supports Windows 95 and Windows NT clients, company officials said today.

The Windows 95 update will be available for download early next week, while NT support will be available in a beta version later this month, officials said. IBM plans to offer support for Java-based clients later this year.

IBM is also developing a thin OS/2 client geared toward network computers. It will incorporate a Java virtual machine with several traditional OS/2 capabilities, said Donn Atkins, vice president of marketing for personal software products at IBM. You can expect to see machines running Warp for NCs sometime this year, he said.

The announcements are part of IBM’s overall plan to make OS/2 the client and server operating system of choice for corporations wishing to integrate network computers and multiplatform PCs, Atkins said.

IBM is shifting the focus of OS/2 to provide the best NC and Java operating environment, Atkins said. Currently, IBM’s Network Station NC runs a Java-only operating system, which may not be completely practical for companies that have a large investment in OS/2 servers, Atkins said.

Just last week in a keynote address to the Lotusphere show in Orlando, Florida, IBM CEO Louis Gerstner did not mention the OS/2 Warp server or the Warp for NC client software.

Gerstner said Lotus has supplied the crown jewels of IBM’s Internet strategy. This Lotus software includes: the Lotus Domino server software; Lotus Notes groupware; a new Lotus-designed user interface for network computers; and a Lotus-designed group of Java applets for network computers.

Entry Filed under: Shop & Buy