IBM System Object Model - Applications

Applications

SOM was intended to be used universally from IBM's mainframe computers right down to the desktop in OS/2, allowing programs to be written that would run on the desktop but use mainframes for processing and data storage. IBM produced versions of SOM/DSOM for OS/2, Microsoft Windows and various Unix flavours (notably IBM's own AIX). SOM/DSOM was also an important part of the later versions of the VisualAge development platform, allowing different languages to call code in a standardized format.

Perhaps the most widespread uses of SOM within IBM were in later versions of OS/2, which used it for most code, including the Workplace Shell. With the "death" of OS/2 in the mid-1990s, the raison d'être for SOM/DSOM largely disappeared; if users would not be running OS/2 on the desktop, there would be no universal object library anyway. SOM/DSOM development faded, and is no longer actively developed.

For some time after the formation of the AIM alliance, SOM/DSOM was also used by Apple Computer for similar purposes. It was most widely used in their OpenDoc framework, but saw limited use in other roles as well. Most of these technologies were dropped in 1997 when Steve Jobs returned to Apple and ended many development efforts.