Will This Be The True Successor to MS-DOS? – OS/2 1.x
Posted by Blissautrey@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 29 comments
In the 80s, everyone probably loved the good old MS-DOS, but it was clear it needed an upgrade. Let's have a look at how Microsoft and IBM tackled this annoying issue; is their new OS/2 the answer to all of their problems, or is it too good to be true?
Gold-Load-362@reddit
No. No one loved MS-DOS.
OS/2 was the answer - windows programs ran faster in OS/2 than they did in windows, and they crashed less. (Amazing what happens to windows code when it is compiled on IBM compilers, rather than MicroSoft compilers.
OS/2 was undone by the per-processor licensing agreements MicroSoft had with PC OEMs.
unixuser011@reddit
Spoiler alert: no
Don’t get me wrong, OS/2 was a great OS but it had unreasonable requirements (needed at least 8mb to be usable - and this was back when 1mb cost around $50) and IBM’s marketing wasn’t great, putting it kindly
Plus, the lack of Apps, support of anything outside of IBM hardware and the SIQ
hamburgler26@reddit
Lack of apps was the killer. My dad was so hardcore into something that wasn't DOS or Microsoft Windows, but at the end of the day, OS/2 just wasn't practical when all our games were on DOS or Windows, and his productivity software was barely available and inferior to what existed in the Microsoft world.
Blissautrey@reddit (OP)
Yeah, that's unfortunately how these lesser known or compatible OS end up... There was also another interesting computer in the 80s, the Mindset Computer, that could display impressive 3D graphics, and was meant to run Windows 1.0; unfortunately, that didn't work out, and the Mindset never really became widespread as it had very little DOS compatibility, which is just sad...
Luckily, alternative operating systems are much more usable nowadays. A really intriguing one is Haiku, which aims to recreate BeOS and is even natively compatible with its executables, at least as far the 32bit version is concerned.
smuckola@reddit
TempleOS ought to be enough for anybody.
Noooooo sir, they most assuredly DID NOT.
Blissautrey@reddit (OP)
🤣 That's why I said probably
hamburgler26@reddit
I've looked at Haiku, BeOS is another one of those fascinating "what if" operating systems from back then.
I've also had fun with Medley which is recreating Xerox's Interlisp environment which is super cool, but I'm not good enough to really take advantage of it. But really fascinating.
I daily drive linux now for work and gaming so it is amazing how many viable options we have these days. Took a while but the future is now!
Blissautrey@reddit (OP)
That Medley looks intriguing, time to jump into the rabbit hole :)
I also daily drive Linux, and it's insane how I wouldn't have even considered using it that much when I first discovered it about 10 years ago.
Prestigious_Pace_108@reddit
I remember owning a HP 690C printer, a top seller of the time and was shocked not seeing support from OS/2 Warp 3. I remember flaming HP big time.
sidusnare@reddit
It was meant to be a business OS
Blissautrey@reddit (OP)
Yeah, it didn't work out, did it... I mean, it was also because it didn't have a GUI right after it had been released, which definitely didn't help its case... It's really too bad, though, because it was fascinating. I'm definitely looking forward to covering its later iterations!
unixuser011@reddit
OS/2 really hit its stride during Warp 3.0 and 4.0, but then Windows 95 was released, workstations had NT, Linux was coming on leaps and bounds and MacOS was getting better kinda and already had more features.
If IBM had released Warp a year or two earlier, it really could have taken the world by storm
TheCh0rt@reddit
It also lost it's Warp branding due to a lawsuit from Star Trek!
unixuser011@reddit
That's still weird for me. How the hell do you name a product 'Warp' and not think Star Trek. IDK how IBM's marketing team missed that and didn't think 'hmm, maybe we should ask Paramount if we can use the name Warp.
To be clear, it didn't loose the right to name the product Warp, they just couldn't use it in the same sense as the Star Trek phrase Warp, they had to go with the dictionary definition of Warp
IdealBlueMan@reddit
There were multiple layers of fuckery between MS and IBM. Worth diving into the rabbit hole to learn about it.
Blissautrey@reddit (OP)
Yeah, unfortunately, they were a bit too late... Plus, their multimedia capabilities could be found in other machines... Still, they tried!
OcotilloWells@reddit
I was a huge fan of it. I was sorry when it faded away.
I have a copy of Warp in a VM. It really shows it's age now.
laffer1@reddit
Are you running an old version or the current supported versions? (ArcaOS)
OcotilloWells@reddit
Naw, the old one. For nostalgia purposes.
Blissautrey@reddit (OP)
It was fascinating! It's unfortunate indeed, but all we can do is remember and share it with others, I guess :')
nkrgovic@reddit
Loved MS Dos? No.
No one loved it. It worked, it did what it needed to do, but there was nothing to love.
The first OS I got interested in (nitnsure Incould say emotional, but curious), was Slackware 3.0.
Blissautrey@reddit (OP)
That's why I said probably XD You needed it for things, but yeah.
R-ten-K@reddit
Wait, people loved DOS in the 80s? LOL
I can almost understand Apple's elitist douchebaggery if by the end of the 80s the best IBM and Microsoft had to show in terms of PC operating systems were DOS and OS/2 1.x
Blissautrey@reddit (OP)
🤣 That's why I said probably, it was more a "we need it, ugh 🙄"
TheCh0rt@reddit
Sit me down at an MS-DOS computer and you will see CLI usage like you've never seen before.
KitchenNazi@reddit
I worked at a company back in the day that had OS/2 on office desktops (specialized apps) and token ring in the early 2000s. Kind of insane.
sprashoo@reddit
Too early to say
Blissautrey@reddit (OP)
Yeah, might have to wait for a few iterations first!
bobotheboinger@reddit
I loved os/2 warp (first version i tried) was a big step up for me from desqview.