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?

Comments

OS/2 is alive and kicking

[LordNimon]

I'm really surprised that a Slashdot reader has to ask this question. It's not like we OS/2 users have been hiding from everyone. It's extremely easy to find all sorts of information about OS/2 on the Internet.

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.