First of all, I would like to thank the hundreds of people who have emailed me with words of encouragement and support. I, like many of you, share your disappointment over the news that there will be no new OS/2 client from Stardock or IBM any time soon.

Having read the posts here and on Usenet, I can see that there seems to be three camps forming on what to do about what's happened.

Camp 1: Eliminate OS/2 off their hard disk as soon as possible and move to another OS.

Camp 2: Is very disappointed but finds that OS/2 works well for them and will continue to use it as long as it makes sense. Will continue to update OS/2 via the Fixpacks which should continue for the next 2 years at least.

Camp 3: Ignoring the data and believes that IBM will change its mind and release a client on their own next year or maybe the year after. Well, let me give my 2 cents on the subject. Bear in mind, I am not speaking for IBM, I am not stating IBM policy here. This is just my opinion (though it pretty much speaks for everyone at Stardock that I know). I've been using OS/2 since 1991. I got into software development specifically because of OS/2. Before OS/2, I was a hardware person only ( I was in college for Electrical Engineering ). I think many of you can relate to me when I say that I have always taken IBM's vagueness about OS/2 and filled it in with optimistic conclusions. For instance the statement: "We have no plans to do a new version of OS/2 at this time." would translate to me "Ah, but that doesn't mean in the future they might change their mind..."

Believe me, when talking with the IBM team about this, I pleaded with them to give me hope that IBM would at least do a client themselves. You can probably imagine how badly I wanted to be able to come back and say "They turned us down because they want to leave the door open for them to do a client themselves."

But the message to me came across pretty clear, a new fat client of OS/2 is not in IBM's strategic direction whether it came from Stardock or IBM itself. OS/2 as a corporate solution product works very well. IBM has invested billions of dollars into it and in the market segments where it is currently selling it does the job exceptionally well and will continue to do the job for years to come. As a server or as an embedded solution for an ATM or kiosk or whatever, OS/2 works fine. But as a desktop client, which is how we like to use OS/2, OS/2 doesn't seem to fit their plan.

I want to stress that those people who use OS/2 today as a solution and find it works well for them and their careers do not involve keeping up on desktop OS trends should probably stick to OS/2 as long as it does do the job for you. IBM will continue to do fixpacks for at least 2 more years, your OS/2 software will continue to work for you.

But for everyone else, including myself, there's no point in staying. I've unsubscribed to the comp.os.os2 newsgroups on Usenet since there's really no point in posting there for me. Certainly no point in advocating OS/2 since it would be like advocating the Amiga today. It's kind of ridiculous to advocate OS/2 as a desktop OS to someone not currently using it. You can't even install OS/2 Warp 4 out of the box on a modern system without first getting large hard disk drivers downloaded and then installing the latest Fixpack to get it to work for Y2K.

OS/2 Warp 4 is now over 3 years old, and while Fixpacks will patch it up and polish nooks and crannies, there's no real hope in seeing fundamental improvements to the operating system. Linux, Windows 2000, and MacOS will continue to move forward while OS/2 remains essentially the same. For me, since I use computers as part of my job, I can't stay with OS/2 no matter how much I might like it presently. Because sooner or later, I'm going to absolutely have to switch to another OS and it'll be just that much harder to catch up with what has been happening on those OSes. Picture what it would be like for a DOS user to suddenly move to using Windows 2000 or OS/2 Warp 4? Heck, Stardock didn't even have a Windows machine in the office until half a year after Windows 95 and only then it was just for casual evaluation. It was very difficult for us to even get into the Windows market in late 1997 (with Entrepreneur) because we were so unfamiliar with the changes that had occurred in the Windows universe since Windows 3.0/3.1 days.

Things like web integration into the OS, distributed computing, information environments, and more are all going to come to OSes (and indeed, we would have integrated these kinds of things into an OS/2 client as soon as possible). I and I'm sure many other OS/2 users don't want to be left behind. Using OS/2 now is like the people who stuck with their Amiga or their Commodore 64 when it was clear that they were no longer going to be moving forward.

As I've pointed out, even today, there are TRS80 user groups out there. There are commodore 64 user groups. Heck, there are even Vic-20 users out there. Those people would be quick to tell you that their "OS" isn't dead either and so there will be a large contingent of OS/2 users who will argue that OS/2 as a desktop is not dead even 10 years from now.

Some people have said that I should not say these things or point these unpleasant truths out. The analogy written here was that if someone is dying of a fatal illness, isn't it nicer to make them feel like everything is fine than to constantly remind them that they're dying? But that's not an appropriate analogy, OS/2 is the patient, the OS/2 community would represent the friends and family of that patient who need to be warned by the nurse or the doctor that their loved one is terminally ill. To not do so, instills false hope and strings people along.

The analogy one former IBMer (not speaking for IBM) said to me, "It's like being in a long line of lambs and discovering that at the building you're in line to get into is a slaughter house. You need to warn the other lambs to run away but you run into lambs that are hoping that maybe the owners of the slaughter house will change their minds and turn it into a lamb hotel."

We've already been strung along for 3 years in the hope that OS/2 would continue to keep up with the other platforms. We've ignored the signs -- OS/2 API frowned on by IBM, SOM support discontinued, Opendoc killed, various leaks and statements by IBMers all have been ignored by many of us (myself included) as a sign of the fact that as a desktop client, IBM wants OS/2 to go away.

I do take issue though with the idea that IBM is somehow abandoning their customers. They most certainly are not, no more than Radio Shack has abandoned their customers. IBM's strategic direction has moved on but they are still working hard to support those people who continue to use OS/2 in ways that they aren't interested in seeing it used. Netscape for OS/2 keeps getting updated, Fixpacks are issued, etc. That's not the behavior of a company abandoning their customers.

A balanced view needs to be taken. As a desktop OS, OS/2 is dead, or at least as dead as anything on the computer can be (hey, I can still get a Kickstart disk from Amiga, Inc. but I consider the Amiga dead too). But OS/2 still lives as a computing solution from IBM that those who use it as a desktop can still benefit from the support IBM provides to those corporate customers using OS/2 as a solution via the Fixpacks.

Now, the final question I get, what is Stardock going to do next?

Well, we still have two OS/2 products in development: Object Desktop 2.02 and Stellar Frontier. Those products will come out. Doug Hendrix, the project manager of SF, will decide what to do about SF after it comes out. Object Desktop 2.02 will be the last update for Object Desktop for OS/2 ( barring some sort of significant problem with 2.02 or unseen Y2K problem). Our existing OS/2 software will certainly continue to be supported though we may move support to our news server and off of phone (I don't think any other OS/2 ISVs currently provide free unlimited voice technical support other than Stardock) and email but that won't happen immediately.

But our software will continue to be for sale for users who want it and like I said, we'll continue to support those products. As long as there are users using OS/2 who want to purchase software for it, ther'es a demand and Stardock will supply that demand. In other words, we don't intend to abandon OS/2. But at the same time, it will be put into legacy mode. For 3Q99, OS/2 will only represent about 1.5% of Stardock's revenue ( the other 98.5% is from Windows software). But currently, about 30% of our support expenses are going towards OS/2 so we'll need to adjust that at some point.

Anyway, in conclusion, for me personally, OS/2 died on September 17 since it became clear that there was not going to be an update for it on the desktop from anyone. Sure, IBM might change their mind in the future but IBM might also go into the gardening tool business in the future too. But I urge those who are angry at IBM to rethink that position, they're not abandoning their customers, they are simply moving in a direction that we don't want them to go in but they are at least supporting those users who continue to use OS/2 as a desktop OS despite their strategic direction that doesn't seem to include OS/2 as a desktop OS. And before you throw away OS/2 or whatever, rethink that too, OS/2 still does the job for thousands of people and your OS/2 software still works.

It's been a great 7 years for me in the OS/2 community. We will continue to keep this news group available since it's really turned into a constructive place to talk about OS/2 without the constant flame wars and antics on the comp.os news groups. I wish everyone well regardless of what OS choice they make. While I won't be using OS/2 anymore, Stardock will continue to provide support for its software and continue to provide its existing software plus release at least those 2 new OS/2 programs - Object Desktop 2.02 and StellarFrontier.

Just to reiterate: Please try to take a balanced view of the events.

Brad Wardell
Stardock Corporation
www.stardock.com