Editing Workplace OS (section)

{{Short description|Defunct 1990s operating system}}
{{distinguish|text=IBM's [[IBM Workplace|Workplace]] client for [[Lotus Notes]]}}
{{Infobox OS
| name                   = <!-- Name of program or distribution -->
| logo                   = <!-- Filename only (no wikilink, nor Image:/File:) -->
| logo caption           = 
| logo alt               = 
| screenshot             = OS-2 PowerPC desktop.gif
| caption                = OS/2 Warp Connect (PowerPC Edition) 1.0, based on Workplace OS
| screenshot_alt         = 
| collapsible            = 
| developer              = [[IBM]]
| family                 = Universal
| working state          = Discontinued
| source model           = [[Proprietary software|Closed source]], [[Mach (kernel)|Mach]] [[open-source software|open source]]
| discontinued           = yes
| RTM date               = {{start date and age|1995|12|15|df=no}}<ref name="OS/2 Beta FAQ"/>
| GA date                = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes/no}} ONLY for articles about OS releases -->
| latest release date    = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes/no}} -->
| latest preview version = OS/2 Warp Connect (PowerPC Edition) 1.0
| latest preview date    = {{start date and age|1996|01|05|df=no}}<ref name="OS/2 Beta FAQ"/>
| marketing target       = Global
| programmed in          = [[C (programming language)|C]], [[C++]]
| language               = English
| language count         = 
| language footnote      = 
| update model           = <!-- APT, Windows Update, etc. -->
| package manager        = <!-- dpkg, rpm, Windows installer, etc. -->
| supported platforms    = [[PowerPC]]
| kernel type            = [[Microkernel]]
| userland               = 
| ui                     = [[Workplace Shell]]
| license                = 
| preceded by            = [[OS/2]], [[AIX]], [[OS/400]], others.
| influenced by          = [[Mach kernel]], [[Taligent#History|Apple Pink]]
| website                = <!-- {{URL|www.example.org}} -->
| other articles         = [[AIM alliance]], [[Taligent]], [[PowerPC]]
}}
'''Workplace OS''' was an [[IBM]] project which unsuccessfully attempted to replace multiple [[operating system]]s with compatibility "personalities" running on top of a [[Mach kernel|Mach]]-based [[microkernel]].<ref name="workplace-os-study" >{{cite journal| last1 = Fleisch| first1 = Brett D.| last2 = Co| first2 = Mark Allan A.| title = Workplace Microkernel and OS: A Case Study| journal = Software: Practice and Experience| volume = 28| issue = 00| pages = 1–22| date = 1997-09-23| doi = 10.1002/(SICI)1097-024X(199804)28:4<423::AID-SPE169>3.0.CO;2-P| publisher = John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.| url = https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=baae88990aa1528233bf7880814d193ba3694c41| access-date = 2025-05-21}}</ref> The intention was that personalities would allow a single machine to run unmodified applications from multiple operating systems such as [[Unix]] or [[OS/2]]. It was the product of a research program in 1991 which yielded a design named the "Grand Unifying Theory of Systems "(GUTS). The GUTS project evolved into Workplace OS after Apple demonstrated its [[Taligent#History|Pink operating system]] prototype to IBM's GUTS design team, who incorporated many ideas from Pink into their own design.<ref name="OWCPE book" />

Workplace OS was intended to improve [[software portability]] and maintenance costs by recruiting all operating system vendors to convert their products into Workplace OS personalities. That included Pink when it became [[Taligent]], which was co-developed with Workplace OS. In 1995, IBM reported that "Nearly 20 corporations, universities, and research institutes worldwide have licensed the microkernel, laying the foundation for a completely open microkernel standard."<ref>{{cite web| url=https://public.dhe.ibm.com/eserver/pseries/developer/library/dsnews/dsn5r.asc| publisher=IBM| website=ibm.com| date=1995-11-22| title=IBM Developer Support News - 1995 Issue 18| access-date=2025-05-21}}</ref> Workplace OS was at the core of IBM's new strategic direction for the entire company, and was intended as the primary operating system for [[PowerPC]] hardware, to allow IBM to effectively compete with the [[Wintel]] duopoly.

With protracted development spanning four years and $2 billion (or 0.6% of IBM's revenue for that period), the project suffered [[development hell]] characterized by [[workplace politics]], [[feature creep]], and the [[second-system effect]]. Many idealistic key assumptions made by IBM architects about software complexity and system performance were never tested until far too late in development, then immediately proven infeasible. In January 1996, the first and only preview of Workplace OS was released under the [[OS/2]] family with the name "'''OS/2 Warp Connect (PowerPC Edition)'''". It was limited to special order by select IBM customers, and had limited functionality compared with the original OS/2 for x86.<ref>{{cite web| title=OS/2 Warp, PowerPC Edition| url=https://www.os2museum.com/wp/os2-history/os2-warp-powerpc-edition/| website=os2museum.com| access-date=2025-05-21| author=Michal Necasek}}</ref> The entire Workplace OS platform was discontinued in March due to very low market demand, including that for enterprise PowerPC hardware.

A [[University of California]] case study described Workplace OS as both "one of the most significant operating systems software investments of all time" and "one of the largest operating system failures in modern times".<ref name="workplace-os-study" />