Kbase 15555: Motif GUI Support - Statement of Direction
| Autor |
Progress Software Corporation - Progress |
| Acesso |
Público |
| Publicação |
5/10/1998 |
|
Motif GUI Support - Statement of Direction
Progress Software introduced the Motif graphical user interface (GUI)
in Progress Version 7.2. Motif GUI is supported for both application
development and deployment on UNIX platforms. Since the time of the
introduction of Progress Version 7.2, the industry trend towards
Microsoft Windows desktops has accelerated. After careful analysis
of industry trends, Progress customer requirements, and current
development commitments and plans, we have concluded hat we will not
provide Motif support in Progress Version 8 products. Progress will
continue to support Progress Version 7.3, an excellent Motif
client/server application development and deployment platform for
Motif.
The Version 8 Motif decision does not reflect a change in our
strategic support for UNIX platforms. Progress Version 8 will
continue to support UNIX as a database server and host based character
mode development and deployment platform. Progress considers UNIX
servers strategic to distributed computing and successful WEB
initiatives and remains fully committed to UNIX.
Some of the reasons that led us to the Motif decision include:
o In most of the high-volume transaction oriented horizontal and
vertical market segments that Progress solutions are sold in to,
Microsoft Windows based personal computers are the de facto desktop
standard.
o Industry analysts report that Motif is installed on only 4-6% of
desktops, while Microsoft operating systems (DOS, Windows 3.x,
Windows 95 and Windows NT) are on 80-82%. These ratios are only
expected to grow more in Microsoft's favor in the future.
o A survey of our top 25 Application Partners indicated that very few
planned to include Motif GUI support in their 1996 application
development projects.
o We are aware of only a relatively small number of current Progress
customers using Motif for development or deployment.
o With our growing requirements for Windows 95, Windows NT, and
Internet WWW graphical support, Progress was forced to make
difficult resource allocation decisions. The decision to not
provide Motif support in Progress Version 8 is one of those tough
business decisions. The Internet will provide new graphical user
interface support on UNIX platforms in the future.
Motif will continue to be supported with Progress Version 7.3 products
and we continue our commitment to Unix host-based character mode
deployment in Progress Version 8.
Progress Software Technical Support Note # 15555