Java Enhances OS/2 Warp Family of Products

Performance Increased By More Than 60 Percent

AUSTIN, Texas, February 10, 1997 . . . IBM today announced further Java** enhancements that will be supported across the OS/2* Warp family of products, including OS/2 Warp Server. The inclusion of Java for OS/2 Warp Server makes it an ideal Web server in an open, networked environment, allowing users to access Java-based applications. In addition, customers will experience a Java performance increase of more than 60 percent in OS/2 Warp client systems.

The extension of Sun Microsystems,** Inc.'s Java v1.02 technology into both the OS/2 client and server product line, which consists of OS/2 Warp 4, OS/2 Warp Version 3, OS/2 Warp Connect, OS/2 Warp Server and OS/2 Warp Server SMP, provides customers with an ideal operating system solution for a network computing environment. The Java v1.02 technology will be available across all of these products in late February.

Top Performance for Java-Based Applications

With the availability of Java 1.02, OS/2 Warp customers will experience performance enhancements for many Java-based applications by more than 60 percent, as measured by the CaffeineMark 2.5 performance benchmark, over the Java v1.01 that shipped with OS/2 Warp 4.

"In testing our new Corel Office for Java under IBM's new OS/2 Warp environment, we noticed a definite performance increase," said Dr. Michael Cowpland, president and chief executive officer of Corel Corporation. "This platform is indeed one of the best operating system solutions in which to run Corel Office for Java, a suite of applications that is setting the standard for Java-based office suites, and marks another milestone in the evolution of Java as a whole."

The inclusion of Java technology into the operating system solution allows users to run multiple Java applets and applications on the OS/2 desktop, as well as access Java programs through the newly released Netscape Navigator 2.02 for OS/2.

The availability of Java v1.02 for OS/2 Warp expands the market for Java based software developers, allowing them to reach an OS/2 population of close to 15 million. Applix Inc., maker of Java-based applications and tools, agrees. "As a Java developer, we are pleased to see that IBM is providing support for Java across the OS/2 Warp family," said Tony Giannelli, vice president of business development for Applix. "The enhanced Java capability for Warp opens up an entire new customer base for us."

In addition, Java v1.02 provides tightened network security policy to protect IP addresses and host names, keeping them within the enterprise firewall. Through improved class interface changes, programs and applets can be prohibited from performing unauthorized tasks that are potentially harmful to the client system, such as overwriting files or spreading a virus.

"Java for OS/2 Warp offers increased performance, and gives our customers another tool to help implement a networked environment," said Donn Atkins, vice president of marketing, IBM Personal Software Products. "By extending this technology across the OS/2 Warp family, we are enabling customers to build network solutions on existing investments, accelerating the adoption of Java technology in business and productivity applications."

IBM will continue to bring additional developments to OS/2 Warp customers and developers, such as the IBM Validation Centers for Java, which allow developers to test Java applets and applications on various systems often at no charge. With the San Francisco project, IBM is leading the way to propel Java into the business world. This initiative, which is supported by more than 75 developers, is intended to produce high-level application frameworks written in Java that can be used to build business critical server applications across multiple platforms, including OS/2 Warp Server.

IBM is committed to keeping OS/2 Warp developers and end-users current with the latest available Java technology from JavaSoft, and plans to offer Java v1.1 for OS/2 Warp 4 in the second quarter of 1997. This version will provide international language support for customers implementing Java solutions with OS/2 Warp 4.

Customers can download Java v1.02 at http://www.software.ibm.com. In addition, IBM plans to include Java v1.02 in future OS/2 Warp 4 Fixpacks.

Java Moves to the Server

The addition of Java support to OS/2 Warp Server will allow IT managers to efficiently deliver business content internally and over the Web to both browser and non-browser based client/server systems.

"As corporations consider deploying Web-based applications, they face the requirement for platform independent development," said Dan Kusnetzky, research director for Unix & Advanced Operating Environments at International Data Corporation (IDC). "At the moment, it is clear that Java is becoming one of the platforms of choice for Web-based applications. I'm glad to see IBM delivering the support for this technology to both the OS/2 Warp client and server."

For example, a customer in the real estate market looking for a new home would have the ability to query the market using a Java-based real estate search application running on an OS/2 Warp Server network with IBM's Internet Connection Server v4.2, which is now in beta. The customer would set the boundaries of the query, for example: all three bedroom homes in the Austin, Texas area, in a specified price range. OS/2 Warp Server would request this information from a host system running a database, such as IBM's DB/2,* and deliver the home listings that met the specified requirements back to the customer. In this scenario, the customer's desktop operating system can be any platform and is not required to have either Java capabilities or a Java-enabled browser.

OS/2 Warp In A Network Computing World

OS/2 Warp is the ideal operating system solution for today's networked world, offering customers an open business platform for heterogeneous environments. IBM plans to move into the future with its customers by continuing to deliver network computing enhancements and solutions for OS/2 that leverage and extend customers' investments in client/server-based environments.

The OS/2 Warp family of products deliver today on the promise of network computing with Internet/intranet connectivity, dependable systems management, ease of use, scalability and now support for Java technology across the OS/2  Warp family. This family of products includes OS/2 Warp, OS/2 Warp Connect, OS/2 Warp Server, OS/2 Warp Server SMP.