OS2 Warp 4

[kf6snj]

I am now running OS2 Warp 4 and PCLinuxOS on my tower. I use OS2 when I am working with amateur radio software. I use PCLinuxOS for e-mail and internet (plus my seminary homework, but that is a topic for ragchew). I like to vist the HAM/2 (http://beam.to/ham2) website and also the Ham2 Yahoo! group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ham2/) a couple times a week. How many others here also work with OS2 (even casually)?

[WD8OQX]

OS2 - Boy, haven't heard anyone using that for a long while. - Last I messed with it was back in 98 or 99 where I worked. The computer it was on went south. When we replaced the computer, we deemed we no longer had a use for it so moved on to something else. (some version of windoze, I think)

I thought it was a pretty good OS & wondered why it didn't go any better than it did. Maybe just a little ahead of it's time?

[kj3n]

Quote[/b] (kf6snj @ June 03 2007,22:13)]How many others here also work with OS2 (even casually)?
Well, me, but you knew that from a previous thread. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

It's the main OS on the everyday machine upstairs, but the shack PC runs XP.

Quote[/b] ]I use PCLinuxOS for e-mail and internet .....

You should give OS/2 a fair shot at those tasks. Firefox and Thunderbird work on OS/2 quite well.

[kl7aj]

Quote[/b] (WD8OQX @ June 04 2007,12:02)]OS2 - Boy, haven't heard anyone using that for a long while. - Last I messed with it was back in 98 or 99 where I worked. The computer it was on went south. When we replaced the computer, we deemed we no longer had a use for it so moved on to something else. (some version of windoze, I think)

I thought it was a pretty good OS & wondered why it didn't go any better than it did. Maybe just a little ahead of it's time?
What happened to OS-2 was Bill Gates. He took the money that was supposed to go into that development and hijacked it to widows 3.x. The rest, shall we say, is history. OS2 was a good stable system.

[kf6snj]

I will be using OS2 for internet once I can get one of my ethernet cards to work right on it. The guys from HAM/2 have been helping me with this project. I am thinking of using OS2 for psk31 as well. Who knows, I may just start using OS2 more....

[WD8OQX]

Quote[/b] (kl7aj @ June 03 2007,15:42)]Quote[/b] (WD8OQX @ June 04 2007,12:02)]OS2 - Boy, haven't heard anyone using that for a long while. - Last I messed with it was back in 98 or 99 where I worked. The computer it was on went south. When we replaced the computer, we deemed we no longer had a use for it so moved on to something else. (some version of windoze, I think)

I thought it was a pretty good OS & wondered why it didn't go any better than it did. Maybe just a little ahead of it's time?
What happened to OS-2 was Bill Gates. He took the money that was supposed to go into that development and hijacked it to widows 3.x. The rest, shall we say, is history. OS2 was a good stable system.
That's what I was getting at - why did windoze take off & OS2 not? - 3.X was a POS!!!

[kc2orw]

Windows 3.1 wouldn't have killed OS/2 but Windows as a Novell client was a pretty effective combination in it's time. Users had gained a lot of familiarity with it because they used it at home.
The early to middle versions of OS/2 ran well on IBM hardware but not on the inexpensive desktops that Windows 3.1 did.
I figure it was purely a matter of economics early OS/2 didn't run well on a lot of hardware and it wasn't dirt cheap like Windows 3.1. Naturally Windows 3.1 wasn't expensive it wasn't good for much all by itself. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
Novell must have wanted to fight off IBM and partnered with MS to get a bigger chunk of the exploding Lan based systems market.

[kf6snj]

OS2 is still a strong and robust system. With programs like "ODIN", it can even run win95/98/XP applications. Also, there are still a good many companies out there that still support OS2. Taken together, this means that OS2 hasn't died yet and like won't for some time to come. Rather, OS2 is simply sitting in a watch and wait mode. I wouldn't be surprised if OS2 (or its deriviative, eComstation (http://www.ecomstation.com/)) were to start making some huge gains in users in the next couple of years.

[kj3n]

Quote[/b] (kf6snj @ June 05 2007,09:38)]OS2 is still a strong and robust system.
Has been since the days of 2.11.
Quote[/b] ] With programs like "ODIN", it can even run win95/98/XP applications.
Here's where I part company with the rest of the OS/2 community. I don't want to run Windoze stuff on OS/2; I want OS/2 programs. I see no reason to inflict "pain & suffering" on my perfectly working, virus-free OS/2 system. If I need to use Windoze, that's what the other partition is for.
Quote[/b] ]Also, there are still a good many companies out there that still support OS2.
But they've gotten fewer and fewer over the last 5 years. I was at Warpstock back in 2005 and I was taken aback at the shrinking of the event since the last one I attended back in 2000.
Quote[/b] ]Taken together, this means that OS2 hasn't died yet and like won't for some time to come.
Most of the OS/2 stuff that comes out these days are typically ports of Linux apps, or drivers ported over from Linux. Sure, it keeps OS/2 running and gives inspiration to the few remaining developers, but at some point I see that coming to an end.
Quote[/b] ] Rather, OS2 is simply sitting in a watch and wait mode.
No, it is what it is; an OS that has a number of diehard fans that won't give up without a fight. I'd like to think I'm one of them.

I certainly am not in any hurry to wipe OS/2 off my HD (I use it every single day), but I envision a day when getting OS/2 (or eCS as it's known today) to load on a PC will become impossible. That day will be a very sad event for me. I've been using OS/2 since 1994 and have continued to use it through many incarnations of Windoze.
Quote[/b] ]I wouldn't be surprised if OS2 (or its deriviative, eComstation (http://www.ecomstation.com/)) were to start making some huge gains in users in the next couple of years.
Not going to happen. eCS costs money. The idea of paying for an OS isn't a very popular one, especially with the advent of Linux. Most people don't pay for a new Windoze OS because they get it "free" with a new PC. Of course, it's not really free, but the virii sure are. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

Are you going to shell out $260 for an OS that you've never used and aren't sure you can get to run? You'd have to be pretty pissed off at both M$ and Linux to go that route. You'd also have to go through 20+ variations of Linux (without finding 1 that will run) to want to go completely "off the reservation" to OS/2. I just don't see that happening...... ever.

Linux has a better following, better mindshare, and better developer support than OS/2 (eCS) has ever had. Not bad for an OS that isn't a product of some major corporation.

OS/2 was backed by IBM and they couldn't do anything with it. Of course, IBM never got one thing right regarding marketing OS/2. They constantly shot themselves in the foot at nearly every turn. Between that and the exclusive OEM contracts that M$ used against OS/2 during the mid to late 90s, the writing was on the wall.

I, personally, love OS/2 (eCS) and will continue to use it until I can't, but I also see the reality of where "the market" is going. I'm not happy about it, but I don't see OS/2 (eCS) ever regaining the marketshare or mindshare that it had, even at the height of its popularity.