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ThePowerOpen Environment (POE), created in 1991 from theAIM alliance, is anopen standard for running aUnix-basedoperating system on thePowerPCcomputer architecture.
TheAIM alliance was announced on October 2, 1991, yielding the historic first technology partnership between Apple and IBM. One of its many lofty goals was to somehow eventually merge Apple's user-friendly graphical interface and desktop applications market with IBM's highly scalable Unix server market, allowing the two companies to enter what Apple believed to be an emerging "general desktop open systems market". This was touched upon by Apple's November 1991 announcement ofA/UX 3.0. The upcomingA/UX 4.0 (never actually released) would target the PowerOpen EnvironmentABI, merge features ofIBM'sAIX variant of Unix intoA/UX, and use theOSF/1 kernel from theOpen Software Foundation. A/UX 3.0 would serve as an "important migration path" to this new system, making Unix and System 7 applications compliant with PowerOpen.[1] A/UX 4.0 and AIX were intended to run on a variety of IBM'sPOWER and PowerPC hardware, and on Apple'sPowerPC based hardware.[2]
PowerOpen will be the operating system for PowerPC Mac owners who need to run Unix-based applications. ... Apple agreed to provide IBM with the technology needed to allow standard Macintosh applications—starting with the Finder—to run under the new AIX, much as they do under A/UX today. Apple will apply the PowerOpen label to the new version of A/UX that results from the deal; IBM will do likewise with the new AIX.
— MacWEEK in 1993[3]
The need for the POE reduced due to the increasing availability ofUnix-like operating systems on PowerPC, such asLinuxdistributions and AIX. ThePowerOpen Association was formed to promote the POE and test for conformance, and disbanded in 1995. That year, other AIM elements disbanded.
The POE containsAPI andABI specifications.[4] The presence of the ABI specification in the POE distinguishes it from other open systems such asPOSIX andXPG4, since it allowsplatform-independent binary compatibility, which is otherwise typically limited to particularhardware. Derived fromAIX, the POE conforms to industry open standards including POSIX, XPG4, andMotif.
The POE is hardwarebus independent. System implementations can range fromlaptop computers tosupercomputers. It requires a multi-user,multitasking operating system. It providesnetworking support, anX Window System extension, aMacintosh Application Services extension, and Motif.
Macintosh Application Services (MAS) was an Apple software product intended to run existing Mac applications alongside other applications in the X environment, including those written for the 680x0 architecture.[5] Also supporting Mac applications that had been ported to PowerPC, MAS was described as "Apple's key contribution to the PowerOpen alliance" and was demonstrated running Mac applications including aQuickTime movie on three different workstation platforms. It was an optional component in the PowerOpen architecture.[6]