IBM Corp and Apple Computer Inc are discussing adding a Macintosh personality to IBM’s forthcoming Workplace OS operating system, an IBM source told US PC Week. Workplace OS is built on Carnegie Mellon University’s Mach microkernel, and is being designed to enable users to run other operating systems as personalities on top of the base system software layer. Up to now, IBM’s list of personalities for Workplace OS has comprised Unix, 16-bit Windows and MS-DOS via its Win-OS/2 product, 32-bit OS/2, and Taligent personalities (wot, no MVS). Adding the Mac interface would give Apple another way to get the interface running on Intel Corp’s 80386, 80486 and Pentium chips, although Apple may still offer its direct implementation of Macintosh System for iAPX-86, which includes Novell Inc’s DR DOS. Apple and Taligent Inc officials declined to comment on whether they are working with IBM to develop a Mac Workplace personality. Workplace OS is expected to run first on IBM’s PowerPC machines, the first of which is due to be announced today. It will also run on iAPX-86 processors, IBM’s Personal Systems Products Division in Austin, Texas, have said.
