IBM i
IBM i is one of three operating systems available for the IBM POWER Series of servers, the other two being AIX and Linux. It is a further branding change to OS/400, where the i stands for "integrated." IBM i discontinued the use of the Version / Release / Modification versioning system, instead moving to a more typical Major-point-Minor scheme. IBM i continued IBM's push to move away from the green screen by introducing a new license model that limited the number of simultaneous green screen users.
In 2022, IBM announced that IBM i would be sold exclusively on a subscription-only, software-as-a-service model.
In 2024, IBM announced that they would be discontinuing support for the RPG compilers, Data File Utility, and Screen Design Aid by April 2025. It is expected that Version 7.6 will only support the PASE environment for new application development.
Notable Versions
7.1 is the first version to introduce RPG Free, a new version of RPG that removes all previous columnar restrictions and reformats the syntax of RPG to be more C-like. It is also the final version of IBM i to natively support twinaxial workstations as 7.2 dropped support for machines with the PCI bus, and no PCIe version of the twinaxial workstation adapter was ever released.
7.5 is the final version of IBM i to support the RPG compiler suite.
