Apple Computer Inc and Novell Inc have successfully completed their project to bring the Macintosh system to mainstream computing, but no decision has yet been made on a commercial follow-up, Novell chief financial officer James Tolonen told the Hambrecht & Quist conference. Tolonen said the companies wanted to see whether Macintosh System could run atop a different operating system and on a different chip, yet still maintain the user-friendly features of the Apple system. Several months ago it resulted in the proof – yes, you can do that, Tolonen said. The original plan did not envisage a commercial use, he told Reuter after speaking at the conference. Apple has not officially commented on the project, although market sources have said it is interested in bringing the product to market. He said Novell was interested in exploring the possibility of offering links to all operating systems and Apple wanted to start penetrating the corporate environment; it was up to Apple whether to take the project to the next step. No decision has been made to do any follow up, he said, but you could stay tuned. Tolonen also said Novell has high hopes for its recently launched NetWare 4.0 project. Because 4.0 is very complex it is not yet known how quickly users will upgrade. You could install it and with five minutes of training you could use it. But you may not be able to take maximum advantage. Tolonen said Novell is not feeling any competitive pressure from Microsoft Corp’s Windows for Workgroups. I just don’t hear about it at all from the sales force, he said, adding that he’s heard it referred to by some as Windows for Warehouses – because it sits on shelves.
