IBM Provides OpenDoc Progress Report

Momentum gains as IBM, Solution Providers announce OpenDoc Support

March 21, 1995 -- BOSTON, Object World '95 . . . IBM today announced an
updated OpenDoc for OS/2 Warp delivery schedule, and outlined increased
OpenDoc support from IBM, customers and a host of solution providers.
OpenDoc is a robust component architecture that delivers significant
benefits to application developers by evolving applications to a
component-based, integrated structure.

Updated Delivery Schedule

The first phase of the OpenDoc delivery schedule occurred in December 1994,
with the delivery of the OpenDoc for OS/2 Developer Toolkit 1. Phase two,
Developer Toolkit 2, which IBM plans to deliver in the summer of 1995,
will include the complete developer capability (i.e. API set), which will
more closely integrate OpenDoc with OS/2 Warp. In the fall of 1995, IBM
plans to deliver OpenDoc V1.0, which will include full runtime support to
license and ship OpenDoc software on OS/2 Warp 3.0 or greater. In
addition, IBM plans to integrate OpenDoc into future releases of OS/2
Warp, including integration with the OS/2 WorkPlace Shell, making OpenDoc
available to OS/2 Warp developers and customers.

"Our customers are driving the demand for an open component marketplace
because they need to quickly deliver customized IT solutions that will
support their heterogeneous, multi-platform environment," said Steve
Mills, general manager, IBM Software Solutions. "Through the adoption of
OpenDoc, solution providers are meeting this demand."

OpenDoc Software

In separate announcements today, IBM and over 25 solution providers
announced their intent to deliver OpenDoc for OS/2 software. IBM
reinforced plans to deliver OpenDoc components for its flagship workgroup
solution, IBM WorkGroup.

The solution providers announced their intent to deliver a wide range of
applications, from productivity tools, such as spreadsheets, word
processors and graphics packages, to vertical industry software, such as
finance and banking solutions. A number of application development vendors
also announced their intent to deliver OpenDoc-enabled tool sets.

"IBM VisualAge C++ for OS/2 is the premier environment for building
OpenDoc-enabled software," said John Swainson, vice president, Application
Development Solutions, IBM. "In fact, many of the developers in today's
announcements are using IBM's C++ offerings in their OpenDoc
development."

IBM will extend IBM Open Class with a framework to help developers build
OpenDoc parts easily. In addition, the visual builder in VisualAge C++
will support OpenDoc-enabled parts.

OpenDoc Developer Toolkit

OpenDoc Developer Toolkit 1, available since December 1994, contains
revisions of the previously released alpha software and represents the
first high-function, SOM-enabled developer release. This toolkit allows
developers to build OpenDoc software with rendering, menus, pop-up menus,
clipboard, basic Open Scripting Architecture (OSA) support, embedded PM
controls, and WorkPlace Shell drag/drop. The Developer Toolkit 1 release
is ideal to begin the development of OpenDoc component designs, building
object-oriented component programming skills, and produce functional
prototypes.

In addition to contributing to the set of core technologies that comprise
OpenDoc, IBM will deliver implementations of OpenDoc on OS/2 Warp, OS/2
for PowerPC and AIX.

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