ArcaOS 5 (OS/2 new release)

[Failbert]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/05/19/new_version_of_os_2_arca_os_5/
https://www.arcanoae.com/wiki/arcaos/technical-specifications/

Hello. A new version of OS/2 came out (incompatible with ARM processors, if anyone wanted for some reason to have it on a mobile device), and from what I understand the main reason was for customers running legacy software in their companies to be able to use modern hardware...

I have absolutely no experience and probably never seen a machine with this OS, so I don't know what's it all about save for wikipedia and press snippets, not real-world application and not even playing around with it. So please tell me, my new retrocomputing friends, if I understand correctly-

supposedly does the new OS/2 natively run DOS and Win3.x software, so 16-bit software, on modern PCs? Did You have any experience and could comment on such compatibility with prior versions of the OS?

For now I think I shall find some image of an older release to play in a VM after work, but please chime in if You have the time and share or kill my enthusiasm/interest that we have something which will make early-90's windows computer archeology without VMs possible!

 

[ClockworkCoder]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/05/19/new_version_of_os_2_arca_os_5/
https://www.arcanoae.com/wiki/arcaos/technical-specifications/

Hello. A new version of OS/2 came out (incompatible with ARM processors, if anyone wanted for some reason to have it on a mobile device), and from what I understand the main reason was for customers running legacy software in their companies to be able to use modern hardware...

I have absolutely no experience and probably never seen a machine with this OS, so I don't know what's it all about save for wikipedia and press snippets, not real-world application and not even playing around with it. So please tell me, my new retrocomputing friends, if I understand correctly-

supposedly does the new OS/2 natively run DOS and Win3.x software, so 16-bit software, on modern PCs? Did You have any experience and could comment on such compatibility with prior versions of the OS?

For now I think I shall find some image of an older release to play in a VM after work, but please chime in if You have the time and share or kill my enthusiasm/interest that we have something which will make early-90's windows computer archeology without VMs possible!

I used to develop Windows software, long ago, on top of OS/2 Warp. It ran circles around Windows, and as far as I was aware, ran seamlessly. However, I don't know the technical details. Think it might have used a slightly adapted version of Windows 3.1x to run in a VM type session.

Didn't care for Windows so much though; OS/2 was awesome!

 

[Magic Sam]

Hi all

I'm very tempted by the Personal Edition, but US$99 is a bit too much for my intended use case (simple test with VirtualBox, because I'm curious)...

I have never used OS/2 before, and I don't own a single piece of software which requires it...

@ClockworkCoder : what did you like best about this OS ? Would you recommend it nowadays ?

EDIT: @Failbert : maybe osFree could be ported to ARM ?

http://www.osfree.org/

Cheers, Magic Sam

 

[Failbert]

Hi all

I'm very tempted by the Personal Edition, but US$99 is a bit too much for my intended use case (simple test with VirtualBox, because I'm curious)...

I have never used OS/2 before, and I don't own a single piece of software which requires it...

Cheers, Magic Sam

That's exactly my situation- very tempting, no experience, would buy but just for VMing, and even then just to "check something out"!

http://www.blondeguy.com/about.html

^ The above guy seems to be making a living out of supporting OS/2 setups (so in this day and age we can presume his knowledge is VERY extensive), I think I'll ask him to write me what does he think about the possibilities I mentioned, and if I get an answer, I'll gladly share it with You guys!

 

[WizardStan]

I remember OS/2 Warp, I remember commercials for it back in high school. I remember my nerdy friends discussing it and saying things like "why would you pay for an OS when every computer comes with Windows now?"
What I wouldn't give to travel back in time and slap myself up the head with a clue-by-four.

 

[ClockworkCoder]

@ClockworkCoder : what did you like best about this OS ? Would you recommend it nowadays ?

That it was rock steady, was more 'fun' than Windows to use, and that the UI encapsulated OO paradigms - i.e. drag one icon on to another for them to interact. For example, dragging a document onto a printer icon to print.

I've not used it in more years than I care to imagine, and it was one of the first jobs I had, so I don't remember many specific details.

Would I recommend it now? Probably as much as I'd recommend RISC OS or Amiga OS; it's a niche in a niche, but likely fun to try nonetheless. I'd be keen to try it.

 

[Silent-Hunter]

I will probably buy it when I have the money. Thanks for posting this!

 

[Magic Sam]

@ClockworkCoder : thanks for your input

@Silent-Hunter : the US$99 Personal Edition will only last ~3 months, then the price will go up to US$129

Cheers, Magic Sam

 

[ckblackm]

I used OS/2 a good deal in college (yeah, I'm old)... my senior design project was developing a web browser built on top of IBM's WebExplorer API in SmallTalk for OS/2.
I've still got an old HP Omnibook 800 with Warp 4 installed (as well as in a VM on my main box), that I fire up every now and then.

cb

 

[TrashyMG]

Still have plenty of OS/2 machines at work still running some obscure software system which likely it's importance will be known when it breaks.

 

[Grench]

OS/2 Warp 4 was fantastic. It was a rock solid OS and did a very nice job of multitasking. It simply did what you asked it to without complaint or trying to do things that you didn't ask it to.

That said, today's Linux distributions are as good or better than OS/2 was back in the mid 90s. I haven't tried this new version and probably won't for this reason.

If IBM had given OS/2 away for free for home use and only charged for business uses, the OS landscape today would likely be much different.

I have been fiddling around with Windows 10 on my Gole1 (connected to a real monitor and keyboard). That OS is a privacy nightmare. Just finding all of the pre-opted-in information siphoning points is nearly impossible. I don't want my OS to be social. Just run the hardware and let me decide what I want my applications to do, OK?

Back to OS/2... One of the things that it did that frustrated me with Windows: Start with a maximized window. Grab the bar of it and try to drag it out of the way. OS/2 allowed that. Windows didn't support that simple action until version 7.

OS/2 managed nearly everything in text based configuration files. If you knew what you were doing you could modify just about everything with a text editor - if you chose to. Yes, there were graphical widgets for a lot of it too. But - you could actually see and modify most/many of the settings directly.

 

[ckblackm]

Basically all the new "version" is doing is allowing folks who are running OS/2 specific software (and there are some still out there) to upgrade their old hardware to something much more recent (and faster). There's not a whole lot "new", and it's
not really comparable to Linux or newer OS's... (although, personally... I'd rather run OS/2 than touch Win10... YMMV).

 

[Silent-Hunter]

@Silent-Hunter : the US$99 Personal Edition will only last ~3 months, then the price will go up to US$129

Well that reeks, but it's still not bad.