An Amiga sidenote in history

[Amiduffer]

I was going through the old software at Weird Stuff Warehouse, and came across a box with OS2/Warp. Never having remembered anyone I knew ever installing it, I had little knowledge of it, besides some derisive comments in a few computer magazines. Looking on the web, I came across this mention. [/quote]site link

 

With Microsoft no longer doing development on the user interface, IBM was faced with creating this themselves. In this timeframe, a deal was made with Commodore. Commodore licensed IBM's REXX scripting language for inclusion in their AmigaOS, and IBM took many GUI design ideas from the AmigaOS for their new GUI. With the release of OS/2 2.0, the WorkPlace Shell (WPS) user interface was born. OS/2 was now a 32-bit operating system, with a fully object-oriented graphical user interface. Based on IBM's System Object Model (SOM), the WorkPlace Shell is still the model for all graphical user interfaces, since nothing else has come even close to providing the same functionality. OS/2 2.1 and 2.11 followed, including a version of 2.11 with full Symmetric Multi-Processing (SMP) support. OS/2 2.x won over many Windows 3.x users because of it's ability to run Windows programs seamlessly, while maintaining a stable system, something that Windows had trouble doing. IBM even went so far as to trademark the term "Crash-Proof."

I'm curious if anyone here ever installed it. How was it, next to Winblow$?

[rkauer]

I tried OS/2 once uppon a time. It is a very good OS, indeed.

But don't run a lot of M$ Win apps. And they are few progs made to it, sadly.

But runs smooth, realible and with some Workbench "feel".

And a decade ago, you could have one buying a "happy meal" on McDonalds (it's the prize). *<:o)}}

[jutrem]

I should still have the original (OS/2 Warp)box here somewhere.

[vk3heg]

Amiduffer wrote:

I'm curious if anyone here ever installed it. How was it, next to Winblow$?

I used to run OS/2 V4 (Warp) for my four line bbs, with fidonet using Maximus/Binkley etc for os/2. Was very stable and then linux made head ways.

[TheMagicM]

when OS/2 Warp came out I was in college working at Egghead Software..  that thing sold like hotcakes.

[Amiduffer]

What reason do you think an OS backed by Big Blue, and stable, would cause so few people to write programs for it?

[amiga92570]

Os/2 was much better than windows at the time. I still have all versions in the box(like 50 3.5 disks). I always hoped that Ibm would continue with developement and they still might. I read a while back they were thinking of bringing back their OS. I see some ATM's go down sometimes here in the US and it is displaying OS/2 screen. So, some people are obviously still using it.

[Zero]

I used OS/2 and OS/2 Warp for sometime, it was a great OS and yes very Amiga like!

 :-)

[Chubbyrain]

OS/2 Warp was a good system. I even used Warp Server for a while. It's a shame that MS played some dirty tricks on IBM to scuttle the system in favour of Windows 95/NT. I loved the way you could allocate memory in OS/2 in the application settings. It's only drawback was that it was lacking device support for a lot of hardware. I remember installing Warp 3 from a CD-Rom and when I restarted the system for the first time, the CD would no longer work and I couldn't find a driver anywhere!

Happy days.

[yetihw]

I liked os2; in fact I still use it on a limited scale.  A company here in the states called andover controls does building automation controllers and their last generation controller the infinity requires os2 to run it, hence my continued involvement with it at some select locations, for my job now.

[yetihw]

I liked os2; in fact I still use it on a limited scale.  A company here in the states called andover controls does building automation controllers and their last generation controller the infinity requires os2 to run it, hence my continued involvement with it at some select locations, for my job now.

P.S.
Many ATM terminals even today are running OS2.

[vk3heg]

Some of the local BP petrol (gas station for you usa people) stations used to run OS/2 for the POS system's. I rember having to blow a few years worth of dust out of some of them about six years ago.

I also still have my OS/2 Warp (connect) cd at home.

 

[weirdami]

@amiduffer

What reason do you think an OS backed by Big Blue, and stable, would cause so few people to write programs for it?

What I heard was that windows 3.0 was out and os/2 could run all the stuff under a deal with microsoft (the deal was they could have 3.0 runability) but then microsoft made windows 3.1 in order to kill os/2 from running windows stuff.

Then, os/2 warp was advertising like crazy all the cool features it had. So, microsoft announced that you could keep using windows stuff and have all those neat features if you got windows 95 instead of os/2 warp. So, people didn't go for warp and it died and like 5 years later windows 95 came out and to get the features you wanted you had to pay mega extra for the "plus" edition addons for windows 95.

tell me now that microsoft ain't evil.