OS/2 for Pens?

IBM presents a technology demo

In what could be considered a defensive move, IBM is demonstrating a version of yet-to-be-released OS/2 2.0 that provides support for pen-computing. (We say “defensive” because IBM’s upcoming OS/2 2.0 Presentation Manager (PM) and future versions of Microsoft’s Windows will be going head-to-head in the 32-bit operating systems arena. If Windows provides pen-support and PM doesn’t, the Microsoft environment will have a clear advantage over IBM’s offering.) But IBM upped the ante somewhat by adding voice recognition to OS/2 as well as pen support.

One interesting aspect about the environment, which supports both pen and touch-screen input, is that it is a “desktop only” system. One reason for this might be that OS/2 2.0 with these extensions is simply too big to fit into a portable computer. This isn’t entirely bad, since we think the pen-based desktop market will be very large in its own right. However, a desktop-only system will place IBM at a competitive disadvantage. But let’s not forget that what IBM is showing is only a technology demonstration; by the time the company decides to go commercial with the extensions, they may have it pared down to fit into a portable system.

This is not IBM’s only demonstration of a 32-bit, desktop pen-aware operating system. Other groups within the company have demoed pen-extensions to the X-Window UNIX-based system. (We wrote about this in our May, 1991 issue, Vol. 1, No. 2. Also see the article entitled “Extending the X Window System,” Dr. Dobb’s Journal, December 1991, which is written by the IBM researchers who developed the pen extensions to X Window.) Nor should we forget that IBM has also licensed PenPoint from Go Corp.

For whatever reasons IBM decided to add pen-support to OS/2, the message is clearly that all operating environments — if they are to be considered mainstream — must provide pen support of one form or another.