The time when users will finally get single-user desktop software that can really exploit the benefits of the 80386 chip – before the thing is completely obsoleted by the 80486 – came a step nearer as the Old Year died and Microsoft Corp sent it on its way with the news that the first release of the Software Development Kit for the interminably promised 32-bit version of OS/2 was now available. Components of OS/2 2.0 Kit includes a pre-release version of OS/2 Standard Edition version 2.0 with Presentation Manager, a 32-bit compiler based on Microsoft C optimising compiler version 5.1, a 32-bit version of the Microsoft Macro Assembler version 5.1, Presentation Manager tools, sample code and OnLine support. For the first pre-release version of the Kit, the developer will need an 80386 or 80486-based personal computer with a risible 6Mb main memory you can successfully run a nuclear power station with a mainframe with less memory than that – EGA or VGA graphics, and a 60Mb hard disk. The pre-release version has IBM’s blessing and can be used for developing applications for the IBM version of OS/2 Version 2.0, but is available only through Microsoft. It costs $2,600, $8,500 for four copies, but there is no seasonal cheer from Microsoft – there is no upgrade pricing available for purchasers of previous versions of the OS/2 Development Kit.
