Apple-IBM alliance


Apple-IBM alliance

Apple and IBM have had two working relationships over the years. The first one (see below) achieved a little more integration of Macs into the corporate world, but the partnership announced in the summer of 2014 may prove to be far more beneficial for Apple.

2014 Alliance
Apple and IBM are developing more than 100 iPad applications that will be sold by both companies. The details are forthcoming in the fall of 2014.

1991 Alliance
In 1991, Apple and IBM agreed to do the following. The bold sentences are the results:

1. Along with Motorola, to develop the PowerPC, a single-chip version of IBM's Power Architecture. The PowerPC was used in Macs, IBM midrange computers and embedded systems. See PowerPC.

2. To better integrate Macs into IBM enterprise networks. A tad more network integration took place. IBM routers could optionally run Apple protocols to connect to Apple networks, and a Macintosh Token Ring adapter was developed.

3. To develop PowerOpen, a Unix-based operating system that runs AIX and Mac applications on the PowerPC. PowerOpen was abandoned. IBM stayed with AIX, and Apple eventually wrote the Unix-based Mac OS X. See PowerOpen.

4. To form Taligent in order to develop and license an object-oriented operating system for the PowerPC, Motorola 68xxx and Intel x86 families with compatibility with AIX, OS/2 and System 7. The OS never came about. Taligent did deliver its CommonPoint application frameworks and development tools and eventually became part of IBM.

5. To form Kaleida Labs in order to develop and license multimedia software, tools and scripting languages for a diverse variety of computers and consumer electronic gear. Kaleida introduced its ScriptX multimedia technology in 1995. It moved into Apple's Multimedia Group when Kaleida closed its doors later in the year.