Article-I.D.: ihlpa.704
Posted: Tue Jul  2 18:11:07 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 3-Jul-85 20:33:11 EDT
Distribution: net
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 44

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                        001 03/20/85 DRI SHIPS GEM

Digital Research Inc.'s (DRI) new Graphics Environment Manager (GEM) system 
software  was  shipped  as scheduled  to  original-equipment  manufacturers 
(OEMs) February 28, the company announced March 11, 1985.

The concept of a graphics user interface was first developed for the  Xerox 
Star,  then  used  on  the Apple Lisa and Macintosh,  and now used  on  GEM 
software.  GEM  runs  on  any computer based on the Intel  8086  family  of 
microprocessors and the MS-DOS or Concurrent DOS operating system.

"Now that GEM has shipped,  an extremely large number of personal  computer 
users  will have access to the latest user-interface technology," said John 
Rowley,  president of Digital Research.  "And they can be assured of a wide 
range of application programs as more than 350 independent software vendors 
(ISVs) worldwide have been trained to write GEM application software.

The following OEMs have received GEM software for use with selected  models 
of  their personal computers -- Applied Computer Techniques / Apricot Inc., 
Northern  Telecom,   CONTEL/CADO,  Texas  Instruments,  Epson  America  and 
Commodore.  Digital Research has also transported GEM to run on Atari's new 
line of ST computers based on the Motorola 68000 microprocessor.  Other OEM 
agreements  are  in progress with manufacturers of both  high- and  low-end 
microcomputers.

In  addition,  a  number of ISVs are writing  applications  to  GEM.  These 
include Lifetree Software,  Spinnaker Software,  Thorn EMI, Hayden Software 
and  Sierra  On-Line.  Their  products span a range  of  applications  from 
educational software to office-automation programs.

                            Active ISV Support

To  provide  ISVs with the level of support they need to produce  GEM-based 
software,  DRI  offers  a comprehensive ISV program.  Included in  the  GEM 
Programmer Support service are the GEM programmer's toolkit, which contains 
GEM  software and a complete IBM PC development  environment,  a  toll-free 
number  for  technical support and a Compuserve account to keep ISVs up  to 
date on GEM. The price of these tools and support is $500.

GEM-based applications will run on any system equipped with GEM.  ISVs  can 
license  unlimited distribution rights from DRI to bundle GEM software  for 
the  IBM PC family and 100 percent compatibles with their applications  for 
$1000 per year per title.