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Where Have the OS/2 Junkies Gone?
Nick writes "We all remember OS/2, such a fine operating system that was once much heralded in certain circles and had alot of promise. What most people don't know is that it still is alive and kicking. Many of you may even know its history. What gets me, however, is how its popularity dropped off solely on marketing even though OS/2's performance outweights any version of Windows I've ever used (unfortunately OS/2 is no longer cool and elite like the many unix-like operating systems out there). So how many of us Slashdotters still run and use OS/2?" Every so often, I still pine for the WPS, but KDE makes things almost as easy, so life is good. I remember OS/2 was always more popular over in Europe. Is it still in use there, or has its use faded as it has here in the US?
...it just smells that way.
//e to Amiga to OS/2 to Windows & Linux. Soon I'll go from Windows & Linux to ... Linux. ;^)
FYI - I went from Apple
OS/2 may not be dead, but it's not for lack of IBM's trying to kill it off. IBM, CBM, what is it with companies named xBM and the complete inability to market superior technology?!
What we need it a campain to get ibm to donate OS/2 code to linux, I'm sure alot of it could be used.
http://www.os2hq.com/archives/arch25.htm
Check that guy out. He's a consultant that wants to force his clients to use OS/2, even though there are virtually no apps for it. He also claims Windows will wear out your processor faster.
I was first impressed with Mac zealots. Generally pretty clueless, but quite dedicated and commanded several BUZZWORDS. Then came the Linux zealots - typically much smarter, but too bent on "world domination" to remain objective and convincing. But the OS/2 zealots - maaaaaan, they take the cake.
I think lack of APPLICATIONS and updates had a lot more to do with its demise than lack of marketing, too. Maybe. Just maybe. Slight possibility there.
Look, matey, I know a dead OS when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.
i work for a small but lively midwestern company (i never thought i'd be writing this)
one of our subsidiary companies uses a custom version of OS/2 Warp for some of their major servers.
i'm actually on a project to kill them off tho. unfortunately, we're replacing them with win2k servers. our management isnt that hip to listening to our techincal input, so they'd rather pay millions to redmond in licensing fees.
get this. we have to pay a license for a serially connected scanner device that has NO computing inside it. just cuz its gonna access a sql2000 database. sheesh.
but it doesn't run on my iBook :-( When I was buying my laptop, I had to decide between running OS X, and OS/2, and OS X won.
It's still a great operating system, and if I ever have real PC hardware again I'd be happy to run it again. Macs have Applescript, and it is powerful, but it's just not the same as REXX.
And of course, the Finder has nothing on the WPS. But still... :-(
--Matthew
You can still buy OS/2 but the package now says "eComStation" - eComStation.com. Just do a google search for "eComStation" and you'll get lots more info.
The new stuff is targetted at NT and Linux.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
We are not loud but we are still here and the Warpstock Europe 2001 in Belgium is running THIS weekend!
OS/2er's and eComStation users are hapyy these days:
- ODIN supports a system layer to start directly Win32 apps under the OS/2 WPS
- VirtualPC for OS/2 will be the next step to run also other *nix ans Win32 apps which are not running under XFree86OS/2 or ODIN
And? Which operating system will you delete today to use an OS/2 based? =:-)Have fun! OS/2 will never die here!
Jogi/2 using OS/2 Warp 4.51
the bank, my father works for. Their complete networking infrastructure is based on OS/2. Nobody really likes it all, but they have to use it, beacuse the "Rechenzentrum" use it.
Anyone knows how the compatibilty between OS/2 and this eComStation is?
Boycot? Blackout? Subscriptions?
I don't care!
eComStation is a VAR version of OS/2 Warp. It uses the OS/2 Warp Server for eBusiness (WSeB) kernal (which IBM introduced to the desktop version of OS/2 with FixPack 13) along with the Journaled File System (JFS) and Logical Volume Manager. It is also bundled with a "Mess O' Apps" such as Lotus SmartSuite 1.6 for OS/2 *AND* StarOffice for OS/2. It also contains some WPS customizations and a network-managed client/network manager tool called "WiseMachine."
Compatibility between OS/2 and eComStation is a non-issue. eComStation is a superset of IBM's OS/2.
Buzzing the information Superhighway at Warp speed
You forgot to mention that a LOT of Odin's code comes from the WINE project...
Buzzing the information Superhighway at Warp speed
I have worked for Bosch qnd I am working for Volkswagen now. I have a look into what is being done by IT-folks in financial sector. OS/2 still is a lot around here and there because it is up and running at low maintenance since decades. Its perfectly stable and much more secure than any Microsoft today. To your surprise there are many companies porting to OS/2 latest flavors (WSeB, ECS, ACS, WCS, ...).
Native Win32-support in OS/2 is available today. VNC-server and Virtual-PC are nearly done. IBM is changing their business-model to only support-per-pay in 5 years; a limitation you have to suffer from at Microsoft since years. SOHO-users may choose ECS.
... alive and kicking, but the players are professionals.
In short, there are plenty of OS/2 users today, although most of them are in Europe. In fact, if Slashdot weren't so US-centric, then the editors would have realized how stupid this "Ask Slashdot" is. Why? Because the biggest OS/2 conference of the year is being held right now in Belgium! The 2nd-biggest was held last month in Toronto.
There are actually two versions of OS/2 available today: the Convenience Pack (CP) from IBM and eComStation from Serenity Systems. eCS is a VAR version of the CP, meaning that it's basically the CP code base, with an enhanced installer, lots of third-party apps built-in, and a bunch of other enhancements. I'm running it right now on a dual Athlon system - the Tyan Tiger MP works great for OS/2, and yes, OS/2 does support SMP systems.
There have been lots of advances in OS/2 over the past year. Project Odin is serious competition for Wine, and can run many Windows apps that Wine doesn't. Plus, Virtual PC for OS/2 was just announced and will be available in a couple months.
Device support has also improved significantly. The only major category of devices that isn't supported is Firewire, but everything else is very thoroughly supported. In fact, video support is phenomenal, thanks to the SciTech Display Doctor video drivers. With these drivers, OS/2 can do what Windows and Linux can't: you can change your video card without reinstalling or reconfiguring any drivers!
I could go on for hours, but I'm going to let other OS/2 users fill in the rest.
And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
Maybe there are less of us than before, and maybe our numbers are dropping, but we're still all out there! Check out the comp.os.os2 heirachy to find a few of us, and a google search will unearth a few more hiding places ;)
Another place we'll surface is mailing lists for open source projects. With the EMX runtime (on hobbes among other places), we can easily port a lot of cool stuff quite easily. Theres a supprisingly large number of projects out there which will build on os2, just look for #ifdef __EMX__ in the code.
Apart from os/2 servers, you'll find that most machines running os/2 will dual boot into windows and linux or bsd. Very few of us use only os/2, but we use os/2 because it does most of what we want. Now if only IBM would open source the WPS...
This post will enter the public domain 70 years after my death, unless Disney buys another extension.
Of course O/S 2 isn't dead, it is alive and well. I use iO/S Warp 4.50 in preference to any other O/S. It's fast Ultra reliable and has all the applications I need.
Plenty of new free and shareware applications on Hobbes and news and comment on both os2,org and os2world.com. Plenty of O/S 2 related news groups too.
I have just purchased the new release of O/s 2 - Ecomstation which I will install soon
Windows XP - No thanks
Mike
I use OS/2, RedHat, AIX, I even have Win98, and Windows XP on other PC's for those Windows moments, and for evaluation.
:-)
I have 19 PC's/Servers, and 1 RS/6000 F50.
I've been in the game since 1982.
Whats the computer on my own desk?
A Dual PIII-1000 with OS/2
Cheers
Happy that even under duress, IBM is still upgrading OS/2, and then there is eComStation.
Cheers Ian B Manners
Hi...
I'm just another one that runs OS/2...
Doing nearly 100% under it, just 3D-gaming and loading stuff to my MP3-watch is done via WinDos. Well, I will upload my MP3s in short under OS/2, so it's 3D-Gaming left.
Using OS/2 Warp 4 FP#14. My Server is running some testcase-kernel (lol) and it's uptime was about 70 days. Then memory got nuked by Perl (arghl). Changed Perl to Non-DLL-version and it's working like a charm.
cu Kiewitz
thanks for checking! OS/2 is still my main OS, unhacked, virus-free, has software to work with everything except Explorer-boobytrapped web pages, and the UI is still ahead of its time... Why would I switch?
OS/2 is still Kicking, OS/2 Warp Server for e-Business is still kicking. They both have had the Convienance packs implimented. And to add to the Warped Family. There is now eCS (eComStation) which adds a few twists to the already great os on Two CD's
I still Consult and Support OS/2 and I know that eCS will continue to grow in the Business and Home Arenas.....
Using OS/2 since 1989. Now upgraded to eComStation. Still outruns all the rest of the OS's out there.
What a question...
OS/2 still does all my home computing and software development. I am currently running a mix of WSeB (Warp Server for e-Business) Warp 4 MCP (November 2000 release of Warp) eComStation (an OEM release of Warp by Serenity Systems at http://www.ecomstation.com ) on 6 machines, two SMP boxen and 4 UNI boxen.
Best OS ever!
Lorne
I'm running OS/2 on my home machine.
It is still in use here because it does have the tools I need to do everything I need it to do. Plain and simple.
It is stable, fairly virus free, it makes for a good computing platform.
If I ever do need something that's not available as a native app. I can always look into the porting efforts that go on at all times...
OS/2 is a much richer platform than many suspect...
Hi there!
I type this directly from Warpstock Europe which is held in Belgium from 2.11 to 4.11.
I see many OS/2 users and clients around. (:
eCommStation (eCS) is OS/2 Warp 4.5 repackaged and marketed by Serenity Systems, Inc and bundled with enough software that it doesn't matter than you can't go to your local CompUSA or Wal Mart and buy software off the shelf. It appears that because of Serenity Systems, OS/2 users will soon be able to run windoze and Linux software as well as native OS/2 and emx software, and without any additional cost if the eCS Up package was purchased along with eCS.
Who uses it? People who figured out long ago the meaning of productivity and uptime, those for whom ease of use is paramount, those who won't tolerate "this program has performed and illegal operation and will be shut down", those who are content to recognize and use something that works instead of wasting time & money trying flashy new toys that don't actually make a PC a more useful tool.
Who uses it? Ask your bank. If anyone there actually knows what software is running the ATM's, they'll far more likely than not tell you OS/2. Bigger banks tend to use it on their desktops as well. Less downtime means less expense and better bottom line.
Who uses it? Ask your auto dealer parts department. Odds are high that if they even know, it is OS/2. They may not know if it is, since admin/update is reliably handled by remote. Repair rates are plenty high enough without inflating bills further waiting on the countermen's PC's to reboot 3-4 times or more each day, or reconstructing invoices lost to BSOD.
I never did actually use windoze. I bought and installed 3.1, and also early versions of OS/2, but stuck to the easy to use and more familiar DesqView 386 until after OS/2 progressed to Warp 4 and I felt compelled to connect to the internet. Upgrading from DesqView to Warp 4 meant all my DOS apps still worked. I needed no new software, since Warp included internet access at no extra cost.
Since committing to full time use of OS/2 I have dabbled (or more) in about 7 different Linux distros, plus windoze 98. Someday maybe some variant of Linux or windoze will work as well as OS/2, but none as yet come close - they are all either more difficult to install, more difficult to use, more difficult to network, more difficult to maintain, less reliable, or more than one of the above.
I have used OS/2 on a PC since 1992 and am at fp12, soon to be upgraded to eComStation. Our new portable computer has eCS. OS/2 systems need modern multimedia functions for use on or off the Internet. Otherwise, we just need more publicity to alert the world that Windows is not the "only OS" out there. My experience is that programmers want to make good software if more computer users would realize that OS/2 is still viable.
I suppose it's hard to know that Warp 4 has continued to develop because IBM has not been advertising it. Up to now IBM has not been charging for bug fixes or upgrades. Warp 4 client is now at FP 15 - which puts it at the same level at Aurora - Warp Server. Dynamite! Stable, fast and needs less hardware and memory than Winx or any version since Win 3.1.
What is eCom Station? The new client offered by Serenity Systems. It is based on Warp 4, plus a whole lot more, such as a choice of office suites for starters - Smartsuite 1.6 and Star Office are BOTH included. eCS includes Serenity Systems own software as well, Wise Machine - new, efficient way to install and reinstall software without hassle. The list of included software is too long to itemise. See http://www.ecomstation.com/ or http://ecomstation.mensys.nl/ - other suppliers in Canada, US, Australia...
Wait for news about when the package in development will be released that puts Winx on the eCom Station desktop for those who cannot do without certain Windows programs.
I am currently using OS/2, only. I use it for everyday work - I am a physics student, and it gives me all I want - all the "classical" software from unixes is ported, like TeX, Gnuplot, etc., but OS/2 also have it's own, great software, like Lotus WordPro, Exact Chart Publisher etc.
At the University I am forced to use Linux - I know that everyone can get used to it, but it is going to be years until it will be as proffesional and comfortable as OS/2 to the end user.
I have OS/2 WSeB on a laptop and will replace Windows 2000 with OS/2 on this gateway box as soon as possible (at the moment the gateway isn't mine) and we're hooked up with ADSL (PPPoE client, if needed, from http://www.fx.dk/ ).
As to that, I don't see myself as a zealot. I see advantages with many operating systems. I just use what I want and if people ask me I tell people about my experiences and opinions. I can mention disadvantages with Linux, OS/2, Windows, BeOS, MacOS etc, and advantages with them.
Take care
OS/2 is alive. The client has been updated, so the Netlabs people are able to run things like Adobe Reader 4.0 and RealPlayer 8.0 on the OS/2 WPS desktop.
Also at the recent Warpstock 2001 conference in Toronto attendees shaw Windows 95, Windows 98 etc. running in a window on the OS/2 desktop.
IBM has publicly announced support for the OS/2 desktop for another 5 years. You pay for what you get. IBM's version of the product is called the Mervin Convenience Package or MCP (There is also a server version of this package called the Aurora Convenience Package or ACP). There is also an OEM version, which comes with an new install program and many other commercial programmes. It is called eComstation, and is a product of Serenity Systems. It is been marketed by resellers worldwide, e.g. Mensys in Holland at http://www.mensys.nl. This OEM product comes with a complete office package for less than the price of an upgrade to XP.
The updated drivers include support for many USB devices as well as support for DVD-RAM.
The Warpstock 2001 in Toronto last month and the Warpstock Europe 2001 in Belgium this weekend is indications that OS/2 lives on as eComstation.
Alguém pode me explicar o significado da palavra "coward' ?
O que eu gostaria de fazer é de trucidar estes panacas que gostam de usar a palavra "compilar..."
Deveriam "compilar" a joça da MÃE deles...
Hey, I still use OS/2...because it works, and it works WELL.
/FS:UDF"? How many of you have an OS that supports USB CD-RW? Hands up if your OS supports up to _64_ way SMP? Who here can still run a pre-emptive multi-tasking OS complete with GUI on a i486, 16MB and fit the OS in under 150MB? It isn't Linux with X. The list of awesome features goes on and on...
Maybe some of you "enlightened" people might do to get out and open your mind a bit before criticizing it. How many of you have actually _used_ OS/2 extensively?
I have used Solaris, HP-UX extensively day in, day out for nearly 10 years. I've used Windows since 3.0 came out...right up to WinXP now. I still have an original Mac Classic. I've been diddling with Linux since back in the RedHat 3.0 days, right up to the the latest version.
My OS of choice is still OS/2, because it's got the applications to get my work done, it's stable, easy to use and easy to maintain.
IBM is STILL putting out fixes and updates and new features for it. Right, how many of you can shove in a CD-RW in your drive and format it to UDF format using a single command line like "format s:
Do your research before you start flaming away?
I currently have a warp 4 machine, ECS (Ecomstation) laptop, and WSEB (Warp server for ebusiness) at work. I also have a w2k box at work for one app I haven't gotten to work on the WSEB machine. I also have a wintendo 98 machine to play Asherons Call which is the only thing I don't have on OS/2 is much in the way of games.
If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, please check out our new OS/2 and eComStation user group. Our next meeting is November 13. Our web site is http://www.baywarp.org
I stopped using os/2 years ago and recently picked up a copy of Ecomstation.And have curtailed my windows use by about %60. Mostly I use win2k just for gaming and use ECS for important work and school stuff when I need reliability. Plus its great just to tinker around. With hopefully Serenity Systems will plow forward with ECS if IBM does not. It's still my preffered os and I get really wierd looks by my peers when I tell them what I use but I don't care it works well for me.
well, i can write my texts, do some calculations with lotus 123, open documents from ms office 2k with my smartsuite, burn CDs with cdrecord or simply with UDF (hmm, does linux have udf-write support? ;-). Still i have some scientific apps (octave, gnuplot), run the real player 8 from windows ( :] he he via the ODIN project), and soon I will buy the VirtualPC for warp, so that I can linux or windows from my os/2-workplaceshell.
what else might I want?
(ok, GPL might be nice, but choose two of three:
cheap, fast, good)
Markus.Drautz
drautzffm "at" web "dott (you know what to replace)" de
because it fits my needs more than the other ones.
As I'm in the business for 25 years now as programmer and as admin at a German university for the past 10 years, I've seen quite some machinery and operating systems.
Privately I'm maintaining a small LAN of four OS/2 and one mandrake station.
At work we are running a heterogenous network comprising one IRIX station and several OS/2 and linux servers while the majority of users sticks to NT4 clients for the known reasons. A 25% minority nevertheless prefers Warp4 clients.
The OS/2 flavours in use are Warp4, Warp Server Advanced, and eComStation; the languages are German, English, and Greek.
You might have noticed that I don't mention any MS in my private LAN. The reason for this is ODIN: The only application I ever missed on OS/2 was RealPlayer - now, with a little help from ODIN, using a DSL line, me and my wife get all our favourite radio and TV internet stations within OS/2.
One word on the notorious mentioning of allegedly missing applications: There are roughly 3 GB of OS/2 SW archived on one of my servers, most of which I didn't even have looked into.
Finally, there's a fine old non-OS/2 TI-59 still in use - unfortunately, I didn't yet manage to connect it to the LAN:-)
I am very much amused by the mindset here at Slachdot. In order to lift up Linux and all its flavours one must put down other OS's and or make people believe other OS'S are near extintions where it is quite the opposite. If you are not using the OS's then why make comments. Every OS has its place, I use eCS/OS/2 because of what it offers and I am able to accomplish what I need to do at my work. I use a Seiko labeler for printing shipping labels, also putting labels on disk...etc... and guess what I am using it with USB, I have eCS - OS/2 installed on a 20 GIG IDE Fujitsu drive, I have a USB HP printer...and it works!, I also connect to a Netware 5.1 server, NO problem and I print to a network printer! I use the latest verison of Realplayer for Win9x, NO problem! I just purchased the latest Yamaha CDburner 20x10x40 SCSI and it works perfectly in OS/2 - eCS. I use OPERA for OS/2, Mozilla 0.9.5 for OS/2. I use a Java app that are current, I use Adobe 5.x for win32. I use Lotus SmartSuite 1.6 and can read all Office 97/office2000 files. So I ask why would still believe Warp is near extinction?...I am able to do my work and not fear lockups on my system, or I don't have to apply kernel updates every so often like Linux users do. I install products with little or no effort, something linux users still look forward to someday having that ease of doing. Warp and eCS is very much updated with current hardware drivers and optimized with pentium support and it comes in a couple of flavours: MCP(Merlin convience pack from IBM) and from Serenity Systems: eCS, eCSpro, eCS with smp...etc. OS/2 is not going away because it still meets the needs of people that come to respect it and rely on its stability and it provides solid solutions today and it works very well!!! Live long and prosper!! Vaughn Bender
Without proper support from IBM we have organized in user groups, participating in OS/2 oriented projects and sites like os2.org, voice and others. They aren't hard to find, they're not hiding!
Today we can still run OS/2 on our desktop machines, even though the newer stuff usually lacks OS/2-drivers (sometimes I have to use my Wintendo partition for certain tasks because of that, sad but true), but many things have changed to the better in the last few years. Some examples:
We have graphic drivers that adapt themselves dynamically to almost any available hardware (Scitech Display Doctor). We are able to clone one machine to another (using freeware utilities), even when their hardware (mainboard, hdd-controllers, graphics adaptors) are different. We can choose from a large variety of applications including native OS/2, 16-bit Windows, ported from Linux (almost everything from Linux is available for OS/2), 32-bit Windows with Odin, Java (of course;-) and so on.
A typical OS/2 installation doesn't start with 3 diskettes and end with numerous fixpacs any more - thanks to IBM's convenience pacs featuring a bootable cd and all fixpacs included.
The next 'consumer' version of OS/2 (called eComStation or eCS) has been distributed to the buyers. It features (among other things) an installation routine that takes only some 10 minutes (!) to set up the whole system, a journalling filesystem (bye bye lost clusters), RSJ (cd-writer) and much more.
And, of course, it has that bootable cd and all those fixpacs on board.
No need to install some special mainboard drivers (AMD users running Wintendo know what I mean, don't they?) Just install and get going.
I'm running OS/2 on two of my machines at home. One is an elderly IBM-Machine with a Pentium II 266 and some 96MB ram. Performs great. The other one is a homebrew Athlon 1200 (previously was a Duron 800, but for game's sake I had to upgrade that one), which runs like hell (well, at least with OS/2, Wintendo 98 only got a little bit faster). Its voodoo 5500 (OK, I know I'm a hardware dinosaur) is fully supported (thx to sdd).
They are connected to a home lan containing some more machines running Wintendo and/or Linux, and the IBM plays the role of an internet proxy gateway with squid (remember that one) and apache (...).
If you should have gotten the expression by now that I'm quite happy with my OS/2, you're perfectly right.
And I intend to keep it that way...
...still flying with OS/2...
and they all run well concurrently ;-}
;-}
including all those most excellent DOS apps for which there is no superior substitute.
OS/2 is not "dead"; it hasn't left, and isn't saying "Good Bye".
Thanks for caring
I've used, programmed, and owned computers since before the SOL-20. Remember *that* "Golden Oldie"? Been using OS/2 since 1991 or so. Tried almost ALL the other OSs at one time or another. Now at Warp-4 and MCP-2, I see little reason ever to switch away. The WPS hands down is the finest interface ever, on *any* platform. OS/2's "up-time" reliability is near 100% (Over 3 weeks here, now). Applications? I've never found a need I couldn't meet with readily available native-code OS/2 stuff. Lonely? No way! There are LOTS of us "still" here.
- Bill (in Berkeley, CA USA)
Dear Nick
You obviously have never tried a proper operating system. I have - for the last 7 years and I am NOT a
junky - I simply want a system which is reliable and easy to use, even if it means very minor inconveniences
like not being able to run that Micro-soft-in-the-head junk. I can find all the software that I need, such as Lotus
SmartSuite, from which Organizer is excellent, and Netscape, which has always seemed much more logical to
use than Explorer and Outlook. Even if IBM took the easy way out and decided to support Linux (why???),
there is still eComStation, which is a doddle to install and very reliable.
Nigel MacLeod
Hi,
I'm with GEICO, one of the larger Auto Insurance companies in he U.S. We are running WSeB on the server side for our sales department. The service and claims has already been converted to the other OS. On the client side, everything has been converted over to the other OS. WSeB will stay here for quite some time because of our custom inhouse built app which doesn't run on that other server (don't got the horsepower ! Hah !)
So OS/2 is still here !
Faisal Islam
Dallas TX
fislam @ about . com
I am currently using OS/2 as my main internet operating system, use it to play all my divx and mpeg files, share internet access across as many as 6 other computers (far faster then Windows Internet connection sharing) and about on par performance wise w/ freebsd without any difficult setup, webserver, mail server, file serve, irc, aim (using ODIN), record and image cd's, play mp3's (with z!) and it does it all without giving me any problems at all. Some of you can say windows can do the same thing, others say linux can do it just as well (not really imho), but exactly that.. use what you want. OS/2 hasn't gone anywhere. If anything we have continued to gain features and support (not that there is that much) and OS/2 and OS/2 users will continue to be around for a very long time.
Although without any great fanfare, except in OS/2 circles, there have been several upgrades to the OS/2 Warp OS in the last 6 months. The first was from BigBlue (IBM) in the form of OS/2 Warp 4 Convienence Pack 1. This is a "round-up" of fixpacks, new hardware drivers (including USB and DVD) and a few new utilities. This is what I am presently running. CP2 is due out in the next 6 weeks and it will include further options that otherwise the user would need to download and install themselves, such as a new IBM Browser based on the NETscape / Mozilla 6 code. These Convienience packs, dont change the look and feel of OS/2's WPS.
//www.warpstock.de for details.
The release in the last few weeks of eCommstation from Serenity Systems (an American IBM Business partner) certainly does change the look of OS/2. eCommstation is based on the IBM Convienience pack base but has several third party (commercial / shareware & freeware) packages integrated into it. Some consider this to be the answer to Windows XP's desktop look.
There is more OS/2 application software available today than ever before!
Wordprocessors:
Lotus have currently V 1.6 of their smartsuite available (this is the equivalent of the Millenium edition on the Windows platform) and are about to relaese version 1.7, with V 1.8 rumoured to be in development also.
Sun's Star Office V5 is a (IMHO) better office package than Microsoft Office or Lotus Smartsuite and its Freeware. Unfortunately Sun are not going to release V6 for OS/2 however it is reported that the WIN32 version works well via ODIN (see below).
Browsers:
Netscape 4.61 is still doing good service.
Opera have released a beta of their OS/2 version of "the fastest browser on the planet", however Java does not work yet. A fully functional version is expected to be released very soon. This browser can "emulate" IE to sites that refuse to work with anything else!
IBM have released their new Browser and will be updating it. If has full Java 2 support and has had some speed improvements over the freeware version.
Mozilla/2 or Warpzilla are two names for the freeware version of the Netscape 6 browser. At present this browser only supports JAVA 1.1 however as new releases come out of this almost every day, I would expect this also to support JAVA 2 very soon.
CD-Burning:
As well as the commercial RSJ product, the freeware CDRecord has advanced to a point where it is reliable and works well with all recent CD-R / RW drives IDE or SCSI.
Scanning:
HP scanners have always been well supported under OS/2 however through another freeware application SANE/2 many many more scanners are also supported. At present the scanner still needs to be SCSI. Some people have claimed success with some makes of parrallel port scanners but no support is yet available for USB attached scanners, but I can't belive this will stay sop for much longer now that IBM has extended the USB support in OS/2 to cover the OHCI standard as well as the UHCI one.
Windows 32 Bit application support:
I guess I saved the best 'til last! If you can't find a native OS/2 application you may be able to run the WIN32 version of a product under OS/2 now thanks to one of two applications. The first has been in development for siome time, getting better and better with every release - this is ODIN (previously know as WIN32-OS2). This "interpretor" takes Windows binary executable code and converts it to OS/2 executable code "on-the-fly" amending calls to apis to address either OS/2's own APIs or those supported by code within ODIN. Although this method obviously slows down the execution of the WIN32 code, it often isn't that much after initial loading (where the code is converted from Win32 to OS/2). What runs is native OS/2 code ! Examples of applications that run well via ODIN are Lotus Notes V5, Star Office 6, Real Player V8 and many, many small Windows utilities like WinZip.
The second WIN32 under OS/2 option was only announced a couple of weeks ago. The Connectix Virtual PC is going to be extended to support the running of OS/2 under Windows and Windows under OS/2. In this case a full version of Windows will need to be purchased/licensed (this is not needed with ODIN). Beta versions of the Virtual-PC code along with lots of the applications and code described above will be on show at Warpstock Europe this month. Checkout http:
As has been so often said, If OS/2 is dead, someone ought to tell the 70% of Finanicial institutions and many military, govermental and Nuclear Power companies around the world that rely on it for it stability and performance !
Cheers/2
Ed Durrant
Nobody really likes it all, but they have to use it
possibly because they don't get BSOD breaks?
or might it be because they can't install the latest windows "time waster" program?
For Warpstock, the annual OS/2 user conference. Had a great time too. I've decided to attend Warpstock Europe next year as well.
A lot of the slashdot crowd seems to be Linux or else. What few OS/2 articles I've seen tend to follow the normal windows media bias - ie the annual OS/2 is dead... really... we mean it this time article.
I'd have given you a list, but the slashdot search breaks OS/2 down to OS 2 and won't return any results because it's now only indexing words 4 characters or longer...
I attended the Device Driver session at Warpstock, presented by Oliver Stein of IBM Germany. Firewire support for hard drives is coming soon. Also an OS/2 port of ALSA - think SDD for Audio.
:-)
My short Warpstock Report is available in the OS/2 forum at IWETHEY, where later down in the thread is information on a wireless NIC with OS/2 drivers
The $120 i payed some 3 years ago for my copy of warp 4 must have been one of the best investments i've ever have done, for that money i've been nearly 100% productive this years -much more than under the M$ crap, and certainly much more than the time i tried to install Linux and gave up after the most unsatisfactory three weeks of my life-, downloading the constant updates and fixpacks, plenty of features, great software made to last and perform the way it is supposed to be!
You know what they say:
Linux is free if your time is worthless.
DOS/WIN is the stuff the nightmares are made with.
I'd take anytime a long dead OS/2 over a moving-target-GUI in top of an un-dead DOS.
So maybe the new MCP is the same warp4 code with all the Server for e-business enhancements and support for most of the latest hardware devices... -much more than what you get in Win2000 for sure and i'd take any bet about Linux supported devices, too- and only that makes it a no-brainer decision for anyone looking for a real OS.
But in the other hand you have the additional enhancements in the install routine -from the video cards to the networking-, GUI, bundled apps and costumer-first-approach from eComStation and, for god's sake, i only payed $139! i feel like i've stolen them!! with only the eCS ver. 1.0 i could go on working at full productivity the next 5 years without having to change boxes every few months, so... why should i change? i love it! it's such a reliable, nice-looking, constantly-updated, hardware-undemanding, little OS! ask me again in five years, maybe then i'll take a second look at whatever M$ sells by then or whatever you linux-fans have compiled by then! or... hold it, perhaps YOU should ask me in some more months, by that time i'll be running your *ux apps and all the M$ crap right from my WPS!!!
The reason you don't hear much about us OS/2 fans is because the OS is a long-forgotten decision for us, the OS is not an issue, we've found the perfect OS and don't need to advocate it over the rest of the unenlightened ones... You have heard the truth, but, will you accept it?
I hope everyone finds the OS technology that best suits each one, i myself have already found it and it's called eComStation.
Leonardo
We are pretty successful and we have a great community. But we know that IBM won't support it for a long time in the future so we look for things we can do... more soon at netlabs.org about that subject
cu Adrian
--- @ OS/2 Netlabs OpenSource Software for OS/2 http:://www.netlabs.org
I have been happily using OS/2 for some years now.
I find the "lack of applications" less confusing, there may be fewer apps than Windoze, but they are usually very good, having evolved over time. A good example would be PMView.
I also am interested in using Linux, but it seems a little complicated trying to get multi-byte character set languages set up.
What worries me is that sure OS/2 users will continue to use OS/2, but I can't see Windoze users converting over to OS/2
We use OS/2 here also, lots of
OS/2 Warp Server's (ACP leve) and
a buch of WSeB's.
My laptop also runs on OS/2 (ACP).
It works, its stable, it does the
job, its better than windoze.
it's still there, it4s healthy, so what is the question?
Is it because USB 2.0 support is still not finished/out of alphq phase?
The question then is WHERE IS LINUX GONE, too?
Many of us are still here and using OS2 including eComStation which is the latest release. Still up-to-date still running what I want to run how I want to run it.
That all depends on what their needs where, some have been forced to move to other platforms to be able to use some standard software packages (Win, office :-)
:-)
:-) see:
Others, like me never really moved.
I am a profesional software developer located in Europe, that has been developing system level software for over 15 years.
Starting with OS/2 version 1.0 in 1987, I stayed using OS/2 whenever possible.
As a developer I really liked it, and still do.
It does not mean I do not work for, or on other platforms like Windows-NT, Linux or other UNIX environments, but whenever the choice is mine I use OS/2 because that is the most convenient and efficient environment for me.
And yes, OS/2 is dead, it has been killed at least 10 times over the last 8 years and the latest version (4.50) just came out about one month ago
Whats more, this version is not only marketed by IBM to its large customers that need it for their business (MCP / ACP), it is also marketed by an independant 3rd party company called Serenity Systems as a complete desktop solution called "eComStation". For details see:
http://www.ecomstation.com
As a developer of disk-related shareware, OS/2 and now eComstation for me is the ideal platform to develop my softeware even if it is multi-platform like mine.
I develop mainly on OS/2 and switch to Windows, and Linux only to compile and test their native versions.
With the upcoming release of Virtual-PC for OS/2 even that will not be needed anymore.
I will just run Win-whatever and Linux in a window on my eComstation desktop
http://www.inotek.de
I really expect to be able to develop reliable disk recovery software for many years to come, and the majority of that development will be in an OS/2 environment!
For some of the DFSee shareware disk recovery and partitioning software have a look at:
http://www.fsys.demon.nl/dfsee.htm
Regards, Jan van Wijk
Still a satisfied user. I have all the applications I need including native support for CR/RW and usb devices and AGP support, and SMP support thanks to eCS 1.0. Drop by http://www.ecomstation.com/ to learn more.
Well, we are one of the five largest independent law firm in Italy, and not only we "still" (?) use OS/2, but have just upgraded to eComStation, aka Warp 4.5, plus Warp Server for e-Business :-)
It is true that while the last Windows machine was a 3.1 which expired a couple of years ago, now we have a Linux firewall...
I don't know about the others, but I'm still here.
I don't have the time or the interest in learning Linux and Windoze (9x, ME,XP...) is still too unstable. I use older apps which still function fine and are faster than the new Bloatware that's out there.
I wish IBM would release Warp to Open Source. IBM hasn't supported the os for a long time and they never really marketted it right. IBM JUST LET GO!
See the subject..
Regards.
Massimo
Various communication links are my daily business - and Os/2 ist still the strongest platform to do this! TCP/IP, routing for 6 subnets with one adpter, sna, appc - it does it all. Viruses? Worms? I have never seen an OS/2 virus. Duble click on "I love You"? No problem, it will result in "DOS Error 23". Recently i showed to a customer (who believed, that CPU clock is so importatnt) a revitalised, 8 years old notebook (486 CPU at 33 MHz, 20 MB of RAM, 810 MB IDE Disk). I installed Warp 4 an shared the Disk. A second machine (Duron 800 MHz, 512 MB, fastest ATA 100 Disk was driven by Win2000 server. The Result of the mini-Benchmark with loading large Files (100 MB): the new supersystem was not about 10 times as fast, but less than double speed! So OS/2 is still very powerfull, needs less CPU power und much less memory than WinXXXX. Greetings, Fritz
I'm still here, using OS/2 since the beginnig of WARP 3, now using OS/2 Warp Server for ebusyness, living in Germany and be very happy with 'my' OS, sometime I need to have Win'98 for special tasks but usually WSeb is plenty of time saver, and there is no monopolist, that tells and forces me what to buy next.
Bodo.
denhoven@myokay.net
Where have we gone? Well, we never left. A lot of us switched over to eComStation when it was released this year, but eCS still runs the same old applications (and the new releases) that OS/2 does.
It's funny how the "OS/2 is dead" rumours surface each time a new release of Windows appears. We have a political party like that. No policies of their own, or at least none that they care to admit to, so their entire election campaign consists of pointing out what's wrong with the opposition.
My Linux-using friends keep telling me that there are no applications for OS/2, but how would they know? It's amazing how many people are willing to spread rumours like that without ever checking the evidence. In fact plenty of people, including me, are still releasing new software. Just recently I sold a copy of my mail server software to someone who had been running Linux as a mail server, but had reached the point where it simply couldn't handle the high traffic levels. Installing OS/2 solved the problem. Not all of the migrations are in the "obvious" direction.
I've been using OS/2 on my home systems since 2.0. I'm currently OS/2 Warp V4. Having been in the computer software arena for over 30 years, I just can't bring myself to do Windows. I do have Linux which would be my alternative if I had to. As a System administrator for a software company that had to support our products on all the platforms, I saw the unreliable alternatives. I'm so happy to
see we OS/2'rs are going further with eCom & ODIN.
You can find many things going on for
OS/2 on the internet. Hurrah!
Professional use: real time data-acquisition and control (where real time means deterministic and time proof)
Privat use: I can burn a CD-R (no 'burn proof') on my 166 MHz pentium while searching the net for the cover (or creating a cover) and printing it at the same time.
And beside these features I found the WPS the only usable computer shell (but it took 2 or 3 years to find this out....)
I'm still using OS/2 on all of my PC hardware, because it still works. I have all the applications I need to be productive, so why mess with what works?
A few months ago I bought my first Macintosh, for the purpose of playing with OS X. OS X is still very slow (10.1) but it's getting better with each release, and will likely become my new 'fun' platform, while OS/2 will remain my 'productive' platform.
Even if IBM stopped fixing bugs, and every vendor in the world simply declared all OS/2 application development 'dead' (not likely, but say worst-case scenario), it still continues to work, and would remain my primary work platform for several years to come.
- Mike
I use OS/2 - eCs everyday. I'm an electronic engineer working in an international collaboration, thus communicating is one of my most important tasks. OS/2 works very well in this regard. The only apps that seem to be missing are the latest net communication thingies, like VNC and VRVS, so I boot to Win something when necessary. But I anticpate that becoming unnecessary soon with the release the Connectix product for OS/2. OS/2 may not have all the latest sexiest apps, but I find that a boon to productivity, as I don't waste time tweeking the latest unstable piece of crap just to access some Web site with zero content of value. Most of the new software these days seems to be motivated by creating some propriotary standard. Anything of value, from my point of view, soon becomes available on OS/2 (at a very reasonable price!) cheers, Rusty
Just got through setting up OS/2 (Warp 4 w/Convenience Pack) and Linux on my new machine (Athlon XP 1500, 1 Gbyte PC2100 DDR, All in Wonder Radeon). Works nicely, and if IBM would port WPS over to run atop X, I'd be that much happier.
While in Italy this summer, I noticed the big national travel agency (forget what they're called, they have an office next to the main Prada store in Milan) used OS/2 for their reservation system.
OS/2 isn't even nearly gone. Hey, IBM's support guarantee was made for, at the time, six or seven years (not counting time already elapsed). Which version of Windows has remained a supported product for seven years? I use OS/2 every day for all my business and home computing, and for developing software aimed at other platforms. That way I can get my work done without babysitting the OS. G. Bourassa
those who know and recognise OS/2 and what it can do are more than happy to continue to use it for their needs. in many cases, these same folk are able to create the apps they want/need to do the work they are required to do. FWIW: i've been running OS/2 since v2.11 was released and have never looked back.
Still here after all theese years... :-)
Windoze x.xx/xx/xx/xx
LOTS of bells and whistles, but that's it....
OS/2 --- eCS
not that many bells and whistles, but just about anything else.
Get's my job done, and keeps the grey hair's away.
Most OS/2 users need not go to linux, so they are still crowded where OS/2 lives:
http://www.ecomstation.com
http://www.ecomstation.nl
http://www.commtalk.de
et al.
Regards
Lutz
What happened with OS/2 ? I think, that you can go to IBM and ecomstation.com for reading latest news.
Spigol is my nick.
Yez, we are here, we, OS/2 users.
I have an OS/2 Warp version 4.5 & it rocks!
cheers,
spigol
Yes, it is truly wonderful. It runs very fast on a 486, much better than Windows NT4 (I should know), and its command line is much more powerful.
And besides, it adds variety .....
OS/2 - because choice is a terrible thing to waste.
Use OS/2 Warp 4 and eComStation in my small business as it just does the job so well. Tend to have lots of different applications running at the same time and switching between them OS/2 just simply stays up 24h/7d. I've never had to reinstall, I control what it does instead of it controlling me. As for applications, virtually every type is available and just simply work so more work gets done.