Apple to set its OS record straight

Although Ellen Hancock, Apple chief technology officer, categorically stated two weeks ago that the company would not buy developer Be, that situation may change next week.

According to reports in the US, senior executives will make a final decision about the direction that the Apple operating system will take at a board meeting scheduled to be held next week.

Hancock had not made a final decision two weeks ago, but was nervous about adopting an in-house microkernel. During her employment at IBM, she was responsible for developing an abortive microkernel for OS/2.

The decision is seen as urgent because Mac developers need to know what direction they should take with their own offerings in 1997.

The company also wants to make a clear statement about its own future intentions at Macworld, which is to be held in San Francisco, California, in January 1997.