The fact that IBM has been showing so much interest in the NeXTStep user interface from Next Inc will not affect its long term commitment to OS/2 and the Presentation Manager, despite defensive- sounding comments reported from Microsoft Corp’s Bill Gates expressing his disappointment at the technical innovation from Steve Jobs’ firm. While OS/2 and its interface have for some time been promoted as IBM’s strategic system for PS/2s and SAA host environments, IBM spokesman Scott Brooks told Microbytes Daily that the NextStep technology was intended purely for Unix environments, and so presumably intended for use on IBM’s main AIX platforms, the RT – 6150 – and the PS/2 Models 70 and 80. Users, said Brooks can expect a steady stream of enhancements to both our OS/2 and Unix-based systems, and he said that IBM products would follow closely behind the release of NeXTStep Version 1.0 on the NeXT computer, expected during the second quarter of 1989. Neither IBM or NeXT presented the product to the Request for Technology for a Unix user interface issued by the Open Software Foundation.