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I used OS/2 on a BBS system running Wildcat that was set up and included an internet email gateway (dial up users could send/receive internet mail) around 1991.

I used OS/2 on a BBS system running Wildcat that was set up and included an internet email gateway (dial up users could send/receive internet mail) around 1991. Each 9600 or 14.4 high speed modem had it's own instance of the app running in a dos box. We grew it up to 8 56k dial-up lines running on that one PS/2 machine before usage tapered off with the rise of ISPs and full web access. I think we shut it down around 1995/6. OS/2 was way ahead of Windows with multitasking capability and memory management, I don't think Windows caught up until Windows NT/2000.

influx 11y ago
Blast from the past. I also ran a BBS on OS/2, though it was RemoteAccess/FrontDoor :)
- a-dub 11y ago
  Also ran RemoteAccess on OS/2. The sound of Sweet Child o' Mine being rendered by a PC speaker has forever been imprinted upon my psyche...
pseudosavant 11y ago
OS/2's multi-tasking was incredible for the time. I used it for BBSing too. I didn't host one with it though. I could zmodem download files (which could take hours) in Telemate in the background while I played Doom 2. Doom played at full speed with no issues and the download would maintain the same speed. This was on a 386DX-40 with 4MB of RAM and a 14.4k modem. OS/2 Warp holds a special place in my geek heart along side BeOS. The only OSes I've ever used that just did things that didn't seem possible in the contemporary operating systems of the time.
- icedchai 11y ago
  You ever try an Amiga? It was about 10 years ahead of anything else.
  - rbanffy 11y ago
    Two key features the Amiga lacked were virtual memory and memory protection. OS/2 offered both.
    - icedchai 11y ago
      Yes, I first learned C programming on the Amiga, and it was a fun experience. Deference an invalid pointer and meet the Guru! I remember installing a program on my later Amiga (a 3000 with a 68030/ MMU) that made the first page write only. This definitely improved stability...
- stuaxo 11y ago
  OS/2 really was the true successor to DOS.
unclebucknasty 11y ago
Unfortunately, OS/2 was also ahead of the hardware at the time and its multitasking capabilities could easily tax the limited precious RAM of the day (especially where GUI apps were concerned). That led to lots of disk swapping, which sometimes gave it the appearance of slowness rather than serving as evidence of the technical advancement over Windows that it actually was.
- yuhong 11y ago
  Also the Workplace Shell. The old MS OS/2 2.0 SDK versions from 1990 didn't have it.
dragonwriter 11y ago
> OS/2 was way ahead of Windows with multitasking capability and memory management, I don't think Windows caught up until Windows NT/2000. Windows NT was the Microsoft operating system that replaced (in its lineup) the joint MS/IBM OS/2, so that's not surprising. (Windows NT began development with the intent of being OS/2 3.0.) So its not really surprising that "Windows" didn't beat OS/2 at its strong points until that version, since the prior versions were intended for lower-end markets with OS/2 being the higher-end OS for Microsoft.
- yuhong 11y ago
  The problem is that it was only a suitable replacement for "NT OS/2", not OS/2 2.x. And Win9x has it's own problems (my favorite is how its dependence on DOS allowed Caldera to continue its lawsuit).

influx 11y ago

Blast from the past. I also ran a BBS on OS/2, though it was RemoteAccess/FrontDoor :)

a-dub 11y ago
Also ran RemoteAccess on OS/2. The sound of Sweet Child o' Mine being rendered by a PC speaker has forever been imprinted upon my psyche...

pseudosavant 11y ago

OS/2's multi-tasking was incredible for the time. I used it for BBSing too. I didn't host one with it though. I could zmodem download files (which could take hours) in Telemate in the background while I played Doom 2. Doom played at full speed with no issues and the download would maintain the same speed. This was on a 386DX-40 with 4MB of RAM and a 14.4k modem. OS/2 Warp holds a special place in my geek heart along side BeOS. The only OSes I've ever used that just did things that didn't seem possible in the contemporary operating systems of the time.

icedchai 11y ago
You ever try an Amiga? It was about 10 years ahead of anything else.
- rbanffy 11y ago
  Two key features the Amiga lacked were virtual memory and memory protection. OS/2 offered both.
  - icedchai 11y ago
    Yes, I first learned C programming on the Amiga, and it was a fun experience. Deference an invalid pointer and meet the Guru! I remember installing a program on my later Amiga (a 3000 with a 68030/ MMU) that made the first page write only. This definitely improved stability...
stuaxo 11y ago
OS/2 really was the true successor to DOS.

unclebucknasty 11y ago

Unfortunately, OS/2 was also ahead of the hardware at the time and its multitasking capabilities could easily tax the limited precious RAM of the day (especially where GUI apps were concerned). That led to lots of disk swapping, which sometimes gave it the appearance of slowness rather than serving as evidence of the technical advancement over Windows that it actually was.

yuhong 11y ago
Also the Workplace Shell. The old MS OS/2 2.0 SDK versions from 1990 didn't have it.

dragonwriter 11y ago

> OS/2 was way ahead of Windows with multitasking capability and memory management, I don't think Windows caught up until Windows NT/2000. Windows NT was the Microsoft operating system that replaced (in its lineup) the joint MS/IBM OS/2, so that's not surprising. (Windows NT began development with the intent of being OS/2 3.0.) So its not really surprising that "Windows" didn't beat OS/2 at its strong points until that version, since the prior versions were intended for lower-end markets with OS/2 being the higher-end OS for Microsoft.

yuhong 11y ago
The problem is that it was only a suitable replacement for "NT OS/2", not OS/2 2.x. And Win9x has it's own problems (my favorite is how its dependence on DOS allowed Caldera to continue its lawsuit).