IBM Ships Premiere Issue of The Developer Connection for OS/2

by David Kenner

Welcome to The Developer Connection for OS/2! Your participation in this program ensures that you'll receive the latest and the best in development information from IBM's own OS/2 development team. But not just information, The Developer Connection for OS/2 is a real product. On the CD-ROM, look for internal, pre-release tools, APIs, sample code, and pre-release versions of the new operating system technologies.

So How Did It Begin?
It all began about a year ago, as a group of OS/2 developers asked themselves, "How can we make a difference? What is needed?" They asked those questions at the technical conferences, and really listened to the responses. You said you needed tools, samples of code, APIs, and accurate information. You said you needed it delivered on a regular basis, so you could have access to the latest and the best. This team brainstormed and came up with a product called the Professional Developer Kit (or the PDK). They delivered it at multiple OS/2 technical conferences. The response was overwhelmingly positive. You liked what you saw, and we liked answering your needs.

The PDK has since matured into a new product, The Developer Connection for OS/2. And that small team has also grown. Over 18 folks in Boca Raton participated in this release of the Developer Connection (and that number keeps growing). Our colleagues at the IBM Labs in Vienna, Austria and Santa Teresa, California also helped in the direct development. So, the development of The Developer Connection for OS/2 really was a worldwide team effort.

What Exactly Do You Get?
Each CD-ROM contains a powerful search browser that lets you, with the click of a mouse, locate any desired piece of information. It's front-end is an easy-to-use GUI. Each item on the CD-ROM is catalogued into a specific category. When you want to see the contents of that category all you need to do is select it. The category expands, allowing you to view its contents.

The premiere issue of the CD-ROM is particularly exciting as it contains a limited-use demo copy of OS/2 2.1, a demo of IBM's GIK/2 (a toolkit for the graphical representation and manipulation of data), many internal IBM tools that previously were unavailable, plus many other tools and products. As new versions of OS/2 become available, we plan to include them on subsequent issues of the CD-ROM.

But the CD-ROM doesn't stop there, it includes the complete reference library for OS/2 2.1 Toolkit, as well as the technical documentation for the Multimedia and Pen for OS/2 products.

The Developer Connection News
The Developer Connection News is your source for fast-breaking, up-to-the-minute information. This month, we feature Future Directions and Strategy columns by Sam Kahn and Paul Giangarra. You might also want to browse the articles from Borland, HockWare, and WATCOM to learn about some of the latest OS/2 applications.

Summary
So, turn on your computer, insert the CD-ROM, and enjoy. This is your product, it was designed by developers for developers. And, we believe it really will give you ''The power of the future... delivered to your door.''

About the Author
David Kenner has been with IBM since 1990 and is currently the Project Lead for The Developer Connection for OS/2. David has had many different roles at IBM, including working on the OS/2 Toolkit, Virtual Device Driver Design, and OS/2 Install. Before joining IBM, David was a computer consultant.