Having pretty much failed in the single most important objective of Systems Application Architecture, that of creating a single user interface for all its disparate operating system families with Common User Access, IBM Corp’s Personal Software Products group is trying again, this time with the Workplace Shell of OS/2 2.0. According to the US PC Week, the company has been outlining plans for a Workplace family of operating systems built under the Workplace Shell and a microkernel that will be scaled for machines ranging from handheld devices to multiprocesser RISC machines. The microkernel, which is based on the Mach kernel developed at Carnegie Mellon University, will also be at the heart of the planned operating environment from the Taligent Inc joint venture with Apple Computer Inc. The aim is to enable users to run the same applications on a range of its systems, a similar strategy to that being pursued by Microsoft Corp with Windows NT. IBM will follow its own technical approach and indicates that it will cut all ties with Microsoft when the technology-sharing agreement expires in September, in particular enhancing and promoting its own version of MS-DOS.
