In the past year or so DEC has committed itself to some pretty significant, and moreover, irreversible strategic directions that will in time affect a great many, if not the majority of existing users and potential future customers. Side-stepping the distractions provided by its involvement with the Open Software Foundation’s merry-go-round, DEC’s well established commitment to its Ultrix platform, the long term but inevitable drift towards integration of its Unixalike with VMS into a single operating system, and the seriousness with which it is building up a RISC line of products as an alternative to the VAX are testimony to this. Set alongside the widening scope for communication with other manufacturer’s hardware via DECnet, and the increasing importance placed on the development of X Window and Unix-orientated technologies such as the Motif graphical user interface, it is strange then, that the DEC User Show representing an industry that’s raison d’etre must be to service these strategies to succeed in its business – seems to be looking largely through VMS-tinted specs. The 1989 show, which closed yesterday at London’s labyrinthine Wembley Exhibition complex, was characterised by an uneasy sense of this myopia. The impending changes do not seem to be reflected in too many products or plans – for many the task of meeting such requirements is regarded a long way off yet. Whilst there was nevertheless still plenty to keep the visitor interested, there didn’t seem to be the numbers of users present that the show must have hoped for – it was more a case of exhibitors catching up on news and developments since the last show venue.
