IBM admits to further delays in getting the crucial OfficeVision/2 2.0 out the door
IBM has acknowledged the truth in reports of yet more delays in delivering OfficeVision/2 release 2 (CI No 1,577). Originally scheduled for last March, and then for early December, OfficeVision/2 2.0 is now postponed indefinitely for further testing. The current version is little more than a word processing and electronic mail system that hooks up dumb terminals to main frames. However, as reported, what IBM needs is a version that combines personal computer networks with mainframes. IBM seems to be ha ving a great deal of difficulty in developing a system that can co-ordinate the numerous soft ware packages and computers, and it has made the task more difficult by using OS/2 Extended as the operating system. The Wall Street Jour nal believes that if IBM is having difficul ties, then the complications must be greater than people anticipated. But other commenta tors tend to the view that IBM has never shown itself to be very good at software development anyway, and the delays reflect on the company rather than the project – the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.
Availability Update
Availability of Release 2 of the OS/2 Office Feature and the OS/2 Office DOS Requester Feature was scheduled for December 1990, but IBM now says that has been deferred. Extended testing and product availability will be based on OS/2 Extended Version 1.3 and OS/2 LAN Server Version 1.3, rather than on OS/2 Extended Version 1.2 and OS/2 LAN Server Version 1.2. IBM says it will provide Release 2 availability information after additional testing and customer verification are complete. Release 1.1 of the OS/2 Office Feature of the OfficeVision family will be enhanced with additional functions which will be shipped on March 29, 1991, and enhancements will also be made available for OS/2 Extended Edition Version 1.3, and for OS/2 LAN Server Version 1.3 on June 28, 1991.
OfficeVision Release 1.1 and Release 2
For current customers, Release 1.1 will continue to support OS/2 Extended Version 1.2 and OS/2 LAN Server Version 1.2. The enhanced Release 1.1 will also be extended to support OS/2 Extended Edition Version 1.3 and OS/2 LAN Server Version 1.3. Availability information for Release 2 will be provided after additional testing; Release 2 is claimed to exploit the enhanced printer support provided in the new OS/2 Extended Version 1.3. The OS/2 Extended Version 1.2 and IBM LAN Server Version 1.2 will be withdrawn from marketing and will not be translated as previously stated. The search capabilities of IBM SearchVision/2 announced in May 1989, as an IBM OfficeVision/2 Release 2 optional product will be integrated into OfficeVision/2 Release 2. The IBM SearchVision/2 optional product, which IBM stated would be available in first quarter 1991, is now being withdrawn from the forthcoming attractions list and consigned to the dustbin of non-history.
OfficeVision Release 1.1 Enhancements
Enhancements to OfficeVision 1.1 include file association, sender’s name display, mail send command, customised Office Window and an MS-DOS facility that allows a MS-DOS application to be launched from OfficeVision/2 office window under OS/2 Extended 1.2 or 1.3. IBM says that customers will continue to receive support for Release 1.1 of the OS/2 Office Feature and the OS/2 Office DOS Requester Feature for a period of at least 12 months after the availability of Release 2.0 of the OS/2 Office Feature and the OS/2 Office DOS Requester Feature.
OfficeVision/VM Enhancements
Despite its intractable problems with the only version of OfficeVision for the PS/2 that really means anything, life in the Office of the Future must go on, and elsewhere, OfficeVision/VM has been receiving attention. OfficeVision/VM is designed to operate in VM/ESA Version 1 Release 1 and the OS/2 Office Feature is designed to operate on systems supported by OS/2 Extended Edition Version 1.2 and OS/2 LAN Server Program Version 1.2. Additional program support includes Interactive System Pr
oductivity Facility Version 3 Release 2, and when OfficeVision/VM is installed on VM/ESA or VM/XA SP Release 2, or VM/SP Release 6, ISPF Version 3 Release 2 can be used to satisfy the Interactive System Productivity Facility. Communications between the virtual machine and Mailbox server now use Virtual Machine Communication Facility regardless of the in-basket file size, and communications between the user virtual machine and the Mailbox service are now interleaved with communications from other user virtual machines under VM. Mail location is user controlled and a deferred delete option is now available that controls how often the in-basket is rewritten. IBM says that the OfficeVision/VM Virtual Machine Communication Facility interleaving and in-basket location enhancements are intended to ensure that on heavily used systems, the Profs VM office automation system can be replaced with OfficeVision/VM.
OfficeVision OS/2 Office Feature
Special Offering As a gesture and to whet even more appetites for the Real Thing, for a limited time, customers can acquire the OS/2 Office Feature of OfficeVision at a reduced price of $375. It must be ordered on or before April 15 and installed on or after December 18, 1990, and no later than July 8, 1991.
