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OS/2

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  OS/2 RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2015-09-14 08:43 +0300
    Re: OS/2 Dave Yeo <dave.r.yeo@gmail.com> - 2015-09-14 20:57 -0700
      Re: OS/2 Bob Eager <news0005@eager.cx> - 2015-09-15 08:38 +0000
    Re: OS/2 tholen@antispam.ham - 2015-09-23 01:21 +0000
      Re: OS/2 RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2015-11-05 10:32 +0300
        Re: OS/2 dilbert firestorm <scanb31@bytemei-55.com> - 2015-12-08 20:49 -0600

#8705 — OS/2

I actually never used OS/2, but looking at the article's screenshot, 
surmise at this point, OS2 Warp is more usable and user friendly than 
Win8.


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/14/world_finally_ready_for_usbbootable_os2/ 


eComStation, the Russian company that offers a PC operating system base 
don IBM's OS/2 , has floated the idea of a USB-bootable version of the 
OS.
The Russian company keeps the OS/2 torch burning by offering a PC OS 
that lets users run OS/2 apps. The outfit claims the likes of Boeing, 
Whirlpool Corporation and VMware use its software, usually in 
applications where they can upgrade PCs but still need to run OS/2 code.
For those of you who came in late, in the 1990s PC owners had a choice 
of commercial operating systems. OS/2 was widely held to be superior to 
Windows, but IBM was outmanoeuvred by Microsoft. Big Blue eventually 
bailed leaving OS/2 on a long and strange trip to obscurity.
Why the USB revival? Because new PCs will nearly always offer USB and 
those using eComStation will therefore appreciate an option to boot 
from USB when doing maintenance. eComStation has therefore called for 
help making a USB-bootable version of OS/2 to help those who are trying 
to wrangle OS/2 machines hit by hardware SNAFUs.
If that application's a disappointment and you'd like to take 
eComStation a spin, there's a demo version here and a US$145 home 
version here. ®

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#8713

RS Wood wrote:
> I actually never used OS/2, but looking at the article's screenshot,
> surmise at this point, OS2 Warp is more usable and user friendly than Win8.

Yes and no. The GUI is similar to Windows and can be made even more 
similar but if you've learned Windows, it does have a learning curve.
The problems are lack of drivers so limited hardware will work and lack 
of programs. Generally most common stuff is available, though with less 
choice and often old versions. Eg web browser, Firefox 31ESR currently 
(and SeaMonkey+Thunderbird) soon hopefully FF 38ESR and various QT 
webkit browsers. Open Office but not LibreOffice and so on.
BTW, eComStation is is the name of the software and the company 
developing and selling it is Dutch.
Dave

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#8719

On Mon, 14 Sep 2015 20:57:07 -0700, Dave Yeo wrote:

> Yes and no. The GUI is similar to Windows and can be made even more
> similar but if you've learned Windows, it does have a learning curve.

Superficially similar, true. But the whole object-oriented thing goes a 
LOT deeper.

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#8839

RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> writes:

> eComStation, the Russian company that offers a PC operating system based
> on IBM's OS/2

eComStation is not a Russian company.

eComStation is the name of the version of OS/2 released by Serenity
Systems, which licensed OS/2 from IBM.  More recently, Mensys took
over further development of the product, mainly things to help it
boot on modern hardware, and even more recently, Arca Noae and Xeu
seem to be taking on the chore of further development.  There are,
of course, many talented individuals that are also contributing to
applications for OS/2.

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#9405

On 2015-09-23 04:21:55 +0300, tholen@antispam.ham said:

> RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> writes:
> 
>> eComStation, the Russian company that offers a PC operating system based
>> on IBM's OS/2
> 
> eComStation is not a Russian company.
> 
> eComStation is the name of the version of OS/2 released by Serenity
> Systems, which licensed OS/2 from IBM.  More recently, Mensys took
> over further development of the product, mainly things to help it
> boot on modern hardware, and even more recently, Arca Noae and Xeu
> seem to be taking on the chore of further development.  There are,
> of course, many talented individuals that are also contributing to
> applications for OS/2.

There's an update at the Reg.  Nice article.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/11/03/os2_returns_arca_noae/

Is the world ready for a bare-metal OS/2 rebirth?
IBM and Arca Noae to free 1990s operating system from its virtualized cage

//--entire article
A US software company has signed on with IBM to release a new native 
build of Big Blue's OS/2.
Arca Noae said its "Blue Lion" build of OS/2 will run on the bare metal 
of PCs without the need for an emulator or hypervisor.
Those still using the 28-year-old operating system and its applications 
typically run the stack in a virtualized environment on modern reliable 
hardware. The bare-metal OS will be freed from its virtual prison, and 
released to the world, in the third quarter of next year, we're told.
"The focus will be on running a full OS/2 implementation on bare metal, 
not just in virtual machines," Arca Noae said, "and toward that goal we 
plan to do a considerable amount of testing on popular, 
industry-standard hardware."
Arca Noae offers software and services for virtualized instances of 
OS/2 and various derivatives of the operating system built by third 
parties. The company said it has signed on with IBM as a business 
partner.
Designed by IBM and Microsoft as a successor to Windows on IBM PCs, 
OS/2 failed to gain a major foothold in the computer market, but 
nonetheless continued development throughout the 1990s. The last build 
from IBM was released in 2001 and official support ended in 2006. You 
can read our insider's tale of OS/2 here and here.
Despite IBM's defeat, OS/2 lingered on in various specialist 
applications as well as embedded systems, such as bank ATMs and ticket 
kiosks. It has since maintained a niche following, and is still 
supported by third parties.
Arca Noae hopes its new version of OS/2 will help to expand that 
audience and end the reliance on virtualization software.
"This will be an independent, full OS/2 implementation for the modern 
environment, with updated drivers and other software, and all the 
software that you can run on OS/2 and eComStation will also run on Blue 
Lion," the company said.
Arca Noae did not give any word on pricing. Pre-orders will not be 
offered until the software is ready for release. ®
//--entire article

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#9727

On 11/5/2015 1:32 AM, RS Wood wrote:
> On 2015-09-23 04:21:55 +0300, tholen@antispam.ham said:
>
>> RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> writes:
>>
>>> eComStation, the Russian company that offers a PC operating system 
>>> based
>>> on IBM's OS/2
>>
>> eComStation is not a Russian company.
>>
>> eComStation is the name of the version of OS/2 released by Serenity
>> Systems, which licensed OS/2 from IBM.  More recently, Mensys took
>> over further development of the product, mainly things to help it
>> boot on modern hardware, and even more recently, Arca Noae and Xeu
>> seem to be taking on the chore of further development.  There are,
>> of course, many talented individuals that are also contributing to
>> applications for OS/2.
>
> There's an update at the Reg.  Nice article.
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/11/03/os2_returns_arca_noae/
>
> Is the world ready for a bare-metal OS/2 rebirth?
> IBM and Arca Noae to free 1990s operating system from its virtualized 
> cage
>
> //--entire article
> A US software company has signed on with IBM to release a new native 
> build of Big Blue's OS/2.
> Arca Noae said its "Blue Lion" build of OS/2 will run on the bare 
> metal of PCs without the need for an emulator or hypervisor.
> Those still using the 28-year-old operating system and its 
> applications typically run the stack in a virtualized environment on 
> modern reliable hardware. The bare-metal OS will be freed from its 
> virtual prison, and released to the world, in the third quarter of 
> next year, we're told.
> "The focus will be on running a full OS/2 implementation on bare 
> metal, not just in virtual machines," Arca Noae said, "and toward that 
> goal we plan to do a considerable amount of testing on popular, 
> industry-standard hardware."
> Arca Noae offers software and services for virtualized instances of 
> OS/2 and various derivatives of the operating system built by third 
> parties. The company said it has signed on with IBM as a business 
> partner.
> Designed by IBM and Microsoft as a successor to Windows on IBM PCs, 
> OS/2 failed to gain a major foothold in the computer market, but 
> nonetheless continued development throughout the 1990s. The last build 
> from IBM was released in 2001 and official support ended in 2006. You 
> can read our insider's tale of OS/2 here and here.
> Despite IBM's defeat, OS/2 lingered on in various specialist 
> applications as well as embedded systems, such as bank ATMs and ticket 
> kiosks. It has since maintained a niche following, and is still 
> supported by third parties.
> Arca Noae hopes its new version of OS/2 will help to expand that 
> audience and end the reliance on virtualization software.
> "This will be an independent, full OS/2 implementation for the modern 
> environment, with updated drivers and other software, and all the 
> software that you can run on OS/2 and eComStation will also run on 
> Blue Lion," the company said.
> Arca Noae did not give any word on pricing. Pre-orders will not be 
> offered until the software is ready for release. ®
> //--entire article
>
Blue Lion? interesting name.

-- 
Dilbert Firestorm

remove *byteme* to email me

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