Innovators on board; masses still waiting - OS/2 LAN Manager

Software Magazine, Nov, 1989 by Paul Korzeniowski

Newport Consulting's Terrie estimated that an additional 10% development time is needed to add LAN Manager features to Presentation Manager applications.

During the past summer, Microsoft began a marketing campaign for LAN Manager software. "To date, support for LAN Manager has been a grassroots movement," explained Microsoft's Jacobsen.

The marketing campaign was not targeted at microcomputer software suppliers. "Independent software vendors that wrote applications for Unix and other multitasking operating systems already understand the benefits of networking," Jacobsen said. "They may be more willing to write to OS/2 LAN Manager than some microcmputer suppliers."

Jacobsen said that 200 LAN Manager software development kits were purchased since the summer of 1988. He predicted that 30 to 40 LAN Manager applications will be available at the end of the year.

Analysts and software vendors expect an increase in applications during 1990 and a major surge in the early 1990s.

"Usually, theree to five years pass before new technology is widely accepted," Lowery said. "Microsoft's Windows was a slow seller for a couple of years. Now, Microsoft is selling 70,000 copies of Windows each month. The same scenario may hold true for LAN Manager."