In , on 12/08/04 
   at 11:32 PM, Alan Beagley  said:

>I posted the message here that started all this because

I understand this.  This announcement has been cross posted to every
mailing list and newsgroup even vaguely OS/2 oriented.  Personally, I find
this duplication annoying, but I guess it is possible that this is just
me.  I prefer mailing lists with a topic to stay on topic.  Your post was
not particularly off-topic, but several of the responses were.

In case you missed my previous reply or I did explain it with sufficient
clarity, this is how I believe this works, based on more than a few years
of experience in the business.

>(a) if IBM is no longer manufacturing PCs, do they have any incentive to 
>keep maintaining an OS that runs on PCs? Will we still have the benefit 
>of Scott Garfinkle's dedicated work, for example?

IBM does not continue OS/2 hardware and software support because they want
to.  IBM continues to provide OS/2 hardware and software support because
IBM has contractual commitments that require this.  Based on what I see,
IBM generally honors its contractual commitments.

>(b) T-series ThinkPad are the only notebooks on which OS/2 is officially 
>supported. Will Lenovo care whether OS/2 runs on their products?

Again, this is a contractual issue.  They will care because they are
required to.

As to when Lenovo and IBM will no longer have contractual commitments to
support OS/2 hardware and software, your guess is as good as mine.  I hear
all sorts of numbers, but I refain from quoting rumours.  Too many folks
tend to take rumors as fact when it suits their desires.

Given the age of the hardware run by most OS/2 users, most will be able to
continue to run OS/2 for several years beyond the date that IBM writes its
last line of OS/2 software.  Parts will continue to be available.  Heck, I
can still get parts for an Apple II if I care to.

Steven

-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Steven Levine"   MR2/ICE 2.60b
#10183 Warp4/FP15/14.100c_W4
www.scoug.com irc.fyrelizard.com #scoug (Wed 7pm PST)
----------------------------------------------------------------------



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> 
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/9rHolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 

 
Yahoo! Groups Links

 To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/os2hardware/

 To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    os2hardware-unsubscribe{at}yahoogroups.com

 Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 




---