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eComStation 1.1 Entry Edition Review
Gentu writes "OSNews reviews the latest incarnation of the legendary OS/2, eComStation 1.1 Entry Edition. The product was released less than a month ago, after a 1.5 years gap of the original 1.0 eCS version. The Serenity Systems guy seems to have overhaul the installation procedure, but not always with the best results."
You know you've made an OS when Mozilla get ported!
I loved OS/2 (although I never tried Warp 4) back in the day. I stopped using it only when it was apparent that it was dead; but I have always had it in my mind that it was a really great OS (and compared to what was available at the time, it really was).
I installed eCS recently to revel in the computing bliss that was OS/2, only to find out that what was cool 8 years ago, isn't all that cool anymore. Oh well.
Ring.... Ring....
Hello?
This is 1991.... we'd like our Icons back.
Anyways... it *is* good to see OS/2 suport. I imagin that there are a few compaines that are very happy to use OS/2 and have the ability to keep deploying it - they probably have a lot of software that woulden't work on anything else.
That's one of the best features of Free Software - you don't *have* to upgreade if you don't want to - you can keep deploying to your heart's content.
Can you even *pay* Mirocosoft to sell you a copy of Win 3.11 ? You can't - they *force* you stay on the upgrade treadmill.
Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
Makes it sound like a niche OS. Come on, doesn't eComStation imply that's only good for one thing? This alone will help make it hard for OS/2 to make a comeback of any kind.
Click here or a puppy gets stomped!
Looks like the only legacy apps running (according to the screenshots) are Sailor Moon videos?..not exactly what most people need..
Oops..I forgot this is slashdot..
I think I'll just fire up VMWare and try this out.
Oh wait. You say VMWare won't run OS/2. That's right...
-twb
A difficult/buggy install should not hold this software back if it's worth using. I had the same problem with win2k once. Damn thing's fdisk just would not work right. I only wasted two hours on known good hardware before I gave up and installed Red Hat on it. Vendors and OEMs can get the help they need, obviously.
OS/2 users should move down the upgrade train for this one. Those screens shots are beautiful. Nice and clean, ah. Ease of use. Did 1.0 even have Mozilla? That alone would justify the cost for your users. I imagine that this will run on the same old hardware too, whereas windblows whatever will only install on the latest and greatest and you might as well jump to free software at that rate.
Me, I'll just stick with free software that I can fix. Who'da thunk it? "Easy to use software" is not as easy to install as supposedly difficult software. I can get the same good clean looks from OLVWM, but I prefer the beauty of Window Maker. Debian's hardware compatibility is just as good or better, and what other OS can you get to run reasonably on a P90 with 24 MB of RAM these days? Then again, I don't have any OS/2 softare sitting around besides two ancient compilers I got from a dumpster.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
And nothing (not even DOS) runs DOS stuff as well as OS/2. I ran OS/2 from 1994 to 2002 for running that stuff (editing with Edix, compiling with Clipper and linking with Blinker, testing the resulting app), and OS/2 couldn't be beat. Windows is slower (you can easliy "feel" the difference between Windows and OS/2 on the same machine) and a lot flakier. And don't even get me started on Linux+DosEmu, which is what I use for that part of my job now (DosEmu is "good enough" but it sucks).
If maintaining those DOS apps were enough work to keep me busy fulltime, then I would still be running OS/2 today, because it's the best tool for that niche.
The problem is that it's a pretty small niche. Other OSes are capable of doing the job (just not as well) so if you also need to do "mainstream" stuff as part of your job, then it probably becomes worthwhile to run Windows or Linux and just put up with the inferior performance. (That's what I did.)
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
http://www.os2ezine.com/20030416/page_2.html
has a nice review of eComStation 1.1
It has been years since I've visited the os2ezine. I be the the slashdotting does them good! I doubt an os/2 site has gotten this much traffic since....wait..its err os/2 nevermind.
Only ancient servers use os/2 to run legacy apps.
Not entirely true - I know of several large banks and financial institutions that are still running it on the desktop for custom applications.
They love the stuff. Can't talk 'em into migrating for anything.
hey dude, how are things in Afghanistan?
I loved OS/2 like no other os. OS/2 truely let me choose what i want out of my os.
:)
I could rip the gui off and install a 3rd party shell manager, i could install a command line shell/task switcher, i could extend the desktop, i could replace system objects and i could use modular file systems and much much more. It was just a "theme" or hack, it was extending the framework.. something unique even to this day!
Sure back in the 2.0 and 2.11 days running Windows Apps was an extra bonus, but i didn't bother with it other then saying "cool".
I was too busy bugging Mustang software to port wildcat! pro over, after they failed i jumped ship to PcBoard 15 and then eventually adopted synchronet all of which ran beautifully under OS/2 and still let me play my Sierra Games, surf the web and listen to my S3M's, MOD's and watch my future crew demos and chat online..
OS/2 Replaced DESQview 386 & Qemm as a stable and very nice MULTITASKING os. I was sure as hell glad when i finally got a CDROM as pushing floppies during install sucked ass. I had to upgrade to 16 megs of memory, but back then that was alot cheaper then pilling up multiple computers and running netware!!
But the golden era started when OS/2 Connect Came out. OS/2 connect taught me what networking was about. OS/2 connect gave me my first run into the world of TCP/IP, Netbios, and netware (had to install the OS/2 netware client to join up with my other machines for playing Doom!) I was able to run my BBS and have a 19.2 modem connection to the internet and it all worked through the magic SIO comm driver replacements. Runnning DOS doors, IRC chats, Usenet gateways and UUCP feeds, i was the baddest 15 year old running an BBS/ISP.
Not to mention i was a part of TeamOS/2, getting free shirts, visiting conferences and getting published in books! Remember those OS/2 unleashed books? I'm there
Everything started to peak at OS/2 warp 3.0.. for a while there was even 3rd party software at the store. Object desktop was showing the power of object oriented desktop and the gui/workplace shell and days were looking good.
Then came... OS/2 Warp 4.0 with its 179.00+ upgrade and 299.00 base fee.. NT 4.0 was now out and pushing for...uhm.. FREE on any PC you bought that day.. basically putting the nail in the coffin.
I ran OS/2 warp 4.0 for a while longer and then switched to Linux and NT myself.. Linux was finally coming of age and after being the first BBS in houston to offer linux for download i (12 floppies mang) i chose to convert myself.
BBS Scene died, had to spend more time in school, got a job and ended up working my way up through the internet world and now work as an oracle guru..
funny how OS/2 started it all for me. Nice to see some of that still alive. Visit OS2.org and say high! There is even a port of Wine to run windows apps emulated/native on OS/2 and much much more..
amazingly, driver support is still doing well. IBM *STILL* sells OS/2.. its just called "WorkPlace OS" now.
ROCK SOLID memory management is the KEY. I work for a very LARGE bank and we've got rights to the source code and LONG term contracts with IBM for support. It hooks in with Z/OS Linux on IBM mainframe hardware as if it was made for it :)
Native SNA connecticity doesn't hurt either.
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
Last I knew, Nortel Norstar NAMs (Network Access Modules) ran OS/2. We got a new one within the last year or so and it had OS/2 just like our other one did from before. Further testament to OS/2 is the fact that these NAMs don't have power switches and are typically installed without mouse/keyboard/monitor. It is understood that you simply yank the power cord to power them off, plug it back in to turn them on, and the things just keep ticking.
WTF is it so damned hard for the Open Source community to come up with something like the WPS, which is arguably the most efficient interface in existence...and it ran FINE on a 486 with 8MB of ram???
Nautilus? Give me a fscking break!
AFAIK IBM's ObjectREXX has an active scripting binding, so on windows anywhere you can write VBScript/JScript you can also put REXX code there too. Similar bindings exist for a lot of languages including Python and Perl. I don't actually _know_ of anyone using REXX, but this is a possibility.
"Only ancient servers use os/2 to run legacy apps."
If they're ancient, that means they have no apparent need to upgrade.
"I would be very supprised if any drivers for modern hardware are included."
Um... what kind of "modern hardware" would you need to put on a reliable server? IEEE 1394 controller? AGP graphics? If it works and does what it's supposed to, why "fix" it?
"It seems weird to use the old os2api's and the only software for os/2 is java enabled or maybe some ports of OSS."
If the software continues to work and do what it is supposed to, why do you need it to run "new" apps? Hell, unlike all of its competitors, OS/2 Warp 4 hasn't even reached its EOL yet.
"I would pick FreeBSD or Linux over this thank you."
Because why let your employer rely on IBM and their ilk to maintain the software when you can lock yourself into the position instead? Nothing like job security, hm? After all, I don't see you suggesting a commercial flavor of *nix there...
I grew up on OS/2 (well, after moving up from an old Sony SMC-70 and a variety of 8088s and 286s). I loved it's GUI. (yes, even without stable virtual desktops) It was just about the only thing that would handle our old P75's aging graphics card gracefully at anything other than 800x600. (sadly, we now use that box as a monitorless linux printserver and no longer have OS/2 installed anywhere else in this house)
Even now that I have happily switched over to Linux and KDE, I find that there's one feature that OS/2 got right, and that I still miss: right-click-drag.
It had the rmb handle dragging, leaving the lmb free for selection, which came in handy when I wanted to select a group of icons that weren't all in a convenient rectangle without having to move my hand to the keyboard and repeatedly click. It was nice when I wanted to select alot of email messages quickly in PMMail. I didn't have to use shift+click or ctrl+click. All I had to do was hold the left button and swipe over the icons that I wanted highlighted. Emelfm, the file manager I use, comes close to this with its chord/middle-click drag, but it just isn't the same.
heh... This much nostalgia in someone of my age can't be good...
I've read Grocklaw. BoycottNovell, you're no Grocklaw
Corparates, who actually buy operating systems and support.
o .phtml
Its amazing how a corparate OS was reviewed by the reviewer. At one point, I expected he would bitch about "game" support etc.
Wake up guys. That is NOT an OS to use at home. Allthough it can be used, its not the purpose of it.
Its name "eCom" lights a clue? Its for e-commerce etc. Well, read this "spec" and decide yourself how bad it was reviewed.
http://www.ecomstation.com/product_inf
I am a win2k professional user, I don't even think to migrate to that OS, since its not RIGHT for my user profile. But it doesn't give me right to say "its dead". I'd sound funny to IT pros, thats all. Sorry to say (I know this post will be at -1 or something, so nvm), Novell isn't right for home too. So, if you don't see it running on your friends house, it doesn't mean "its dead" too.
Also "Don't install to mission critical machines since it disables dual boot"? Oh give me a break... That guy is paid to review?
anyway, -1 me now...
* One can arrange the icons on the desktop or in each folder in several different ways (around the top, bottom, left, right, etc), and UNDO the arrange command if it was done accidentally by selecting the "Undo Arrange" item on the main menu for that desktop or folder object.
* Individual icons or groups of icons can be Locked to the desktop (becoming immune from future Arrange actions) and Unlocked for later moving.
* Each desktop shadow (shortcut/alias) has an item in its context menu called "Locate Parent" that lets a user quickly locate the parent of a given shadow.
* Desktop shortcuts actively track the original file across physical drives and adjusts desktop shadow pointers accordingly. A move of a whole directory tree from drive C: to F: would have no impact on the desktop (all desktop links that point into the tree are updated automagically by the WorkPlace Shell).
* One can create a "Workgroup Folder" to store a bunch of related programs and folders (say the stuff one needed for web site development). If one opens that workgroup folder, all of the items stored within are opened at once, unfolding the working environment.
* One can create a "Template object", basically creating an infinite stack of similar objects from which one can then "tear off" (via drag-and-drop) new copies of that object. This makes it easy to set up a document-centric work environment where one simply creates a series of template objects for all of the file types that one works with. To create a new document, image file, folder, or whatever, just tear a new one from the appropriate template.
* Support in the desktop for true objects that are able to inherit attributes from their parents. If one extends the base Folder object to add FTP client functionality, for example, and someone else decided to modify the base Folder class to handle something new, the "FTP Folder" child class will also gain the new functionality.
I'm sure there's stuff I'm missing...
Mainframe/UNIX Bit Twiddler and long time Windows/Linux Hobbyist.
The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.