IBM has finally gained enough confidence in the supporting hardware and software network computer infrastructure that it will commercially release its Java-based Network Station on March 28.

IBM announced the systems in September and has since shipped about 1,000 into pilot test--half of which went to European customers. The reasons for the slow rollout, said Bob Dies, general manager of the Somers, N.Y., division, are performance issues and lack of Java applications and management software.

"We were waiting to get the thumbs-up from the labs, and we now have it," Dies said. IBM will address some of those issues with next week's release and also will be planning a solid base from which to build NCs.

For example, the PowerPC-based Network Stations will feature a software layer that boots 3270 and 5250 terminal emulation applications as well as a user's profile, Dies said.

The profile piece lets users log in at any NC and have their applications and user-defined characteristics downloaded. For example, a left-handed user could have the right mouse button enabled upon bootup.

IBM's Lotus Development Corp. subsidiary is working on Java versions of its office suite of applications, Dies said. IBM will make the applications available for NCs in "modules."

"Users don't want to download 100MB of 1-2-3 ... when all they might need is basic [arithmetic] functions," Dies said. As a result, users will be able to download selected modules of Java-enabled SmartSuite applications, he said.

IBM's NC group also is working with the Microelectronics group to boost Java application performance. In the first quarter of 1998, IBM will release a Java accelerator for PowerPC-based NCs that converts Java byte code to native Java mode, Dies said.

The company may eventually integrate the accelerator and CPU for a lower-cost solution that consumes less motherboard space, Dies said.

Although the Network Stations will include a Java-based operating system from Network Computing Devices Inc., they will eventually bundle JavaSoft Inc.'s JavaOS, but not until it has been battle-tested, Dies said. "The JavaOS is not ready for prime time," he said.

Dies also said that IBM will have two or three different models of NC, differentiated by CPU clock speed and networking. The form factor will remain constant.

As proof of its commitment to NCs, Dies said the company will roll out about 10,000 NCs across various IBM divisions, including onto the desk of Bob Stephenson, senior vice president and group executive of IBM's Personal Products.

Coincidentally, Stephenson's group is working on a competing product, the NetPC, that also aims to lower the cost and complexity of PCs.

The IBM Network Station will be available for $695 without a monitor.

Source: PC Week