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Having used OS/2 for a number of years before switching to GNU/Linux, I can't recall a single piece of OS/2 native software that I miss and would like to run in

Having used OS/2 for a number of years before switching to GNU/Linux, I can't recall a single piece of OS/2 native software that I miss and would like to run in emulation. The vast majority of what I (and my computer geek peers) did under OS/2 was run MS-DOS software in a multi-tasking environment. OS/2 never really got much in the way of quality native software developed for it, at least not that us poor students had access to anyways.

krylon 9y ago
I read somewhere that IBM thought by offering DOS and Windows compatibility they could lure in users, which backfired, because there was no incentive for developers to offer dedicated OS/2 versions of their software. IIRC, the main reason it caught on in banks was that those were big IBM customers to begin with, and that OS/2 offered good support for talking to IBM mainframes out of the box.
ptx 9y ago
I miss the Workplace Shell[1]. But I guess you can't really download that separately, and it doesn't make sense without the rest of the system. There was a file manager for Unix that was inspired by it – DFM[2] – but not really the same thing, and the project seems to have died a long time ago. I remember using it with IceWM in Red Hat Linux 5.0 to get something vaguely OS/2-like. :) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workplace_Shell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workplace_Shell [2] http://web.archive.org/web/20120717020125/http://www.kaisersite.de/dfm/ http://web.archive.org/web/20120717020125/http://www.kaisers...
dade_ 9y ago
At the time, being able to run windows applications on OS/2 was a big feature, so there wasn't much need for native applications. Windows 95 came out, and its apps were not compatible, so the feature ended up accelerated its demise. I used it to run my BBS, OS/2 was great for muktitasking and stability. The built in networking was great, being used to Windows 3.1 at the time. It was also very common in voicemail systems and is also used in IBM cheque scanners. I don't have any interest in running IBM Works, but there has been interest in running old BBS software lately...
- chaoticmass 9y ago
  I've come across some old IBM Intellistation PCs which were used as check scanners. They had a bunch of weird PCI cards inside and the systems were running OS/2. I dug around the hard drives and found check images. Whoever let those go without wiping the drives really goofed up. Good thing I found them and not someone else.
- newnewpdro 9y ago
  The windows compatibility was much touted but it was never impactful enough to compel any significant numbers of DOS/Win users to switch, so it's not like that feature ceasing to work with the arrival of Windows 95 resulted in masses of OS/2 users switching back. There simply never were masses of users. What IBM needed was some killer OS/2-specific programs to attract the masses. There was a window (har har) of time where they probably could have done it, but they missed it. They certainly had the resources at the time. It's also important to remember that PC hardware support was an absolute nightmare back then. OS/2 needed drivers written for everything, and very little was standardized, there wasn't even USB. Hardware compatibility combined with a lack of attractive native software were the major barriers to mass adoption IMHO. edit: This stroll down memory lane just reminded me of the pile of 30+ 3.5" floppy disks required to install OS/2, which I had to write myself using the CDROM from DOS, because OS/2 couldn't use that particular CDROM successfully yet.
jhbadger 9y ago
Galactic Civilizations was a pretty great Reach for the Stars/Master of Orion style game that was for a long time OS/2 only, as the developers were OS/2 fanatics. Later versions did get Windows ports, though.

krylon 9y ago

I read somewhere that IBM thought by offering DOS and Windows compatibility they could lure in users, which backfired, because there was no incentive for developers to offer dedicated OS/2 versions of their software. IIRC, the main reason it caught on in banks was that those were big IBM customers to begin with, and that OS/2 offered good support for talking to IBM mainframes out of the box.

ptx 9y ago

I miss the Workplace Shell[1]. But I guess you can't really download that separately, and it doesn't make sense without the rest of the system. There was a file manager for Unix that was inspired by it – DFM[2] – but not really the same thing, and the project seems to have died a long time ago. I remember using it with IceWM in Red Hat Linux 5.0 to get something vaguely OS/2-like. :) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workplace_Shell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workplace_Shell [2] http://web.archive.org/web/20120717020125/http://www.kaisersite.de/dfm/ http://web.archive.org/web/20120717020125/http://www.kaisers...

dade_ 9y ago

At the time, being able to run windows applications on OS/2 was a big feature, so there wasn't much need for native applications. Windows 95 came out, and its apps were not compatible, so the feature ended up accelerated its demise. I used it to run my BBS, OS/2 was great for muktitasking and stability. The built in networking was great, being used to Windows 3.1 at the time. It was also very common in voicemail systems and is also used in IBM cheque scanners. I don't have any interest in running IBM Works, but there has been interest in running old BBS software lately...

chaoticmass 9y ago
I've come across some old IBM Intellistation PCs which were used as check scanners. They had a bunch of weird PCI cards inside and the systems were running OS/2. I dug around the hard drives and found check images. Whoever let those go without wiping the drives really goofed up. Good thing I found them and not someone else.
newnewpdro 9y ago
The windows compatibility was much touted but it was never impactful enough to compel any significant numbers of DOS/Win users to switch, so it's not like that feature ceasing to work with the arrival of Windows 95 resulted in masses of OS/2 users switching back. There simply never were masses of users. What IBM needed was some killer OS/2-specific programs to attract the masses. There was a window (har har) of time where they probably could have done it, but they missed it. They certainly had the resources at the time. It's also important to remember that PC hardware support was an absolute nightmare back then. OS/2 needed drivers written for everything, and very little was standardized, there wasn't even USB. Hardware compatibility combined with a lack of attractive native software were the major barriers to mass adoption IMHO. edit: This stroll down memory lane just reminded me of the pile of 30+ 3.5" floppy disks required to install OS/2, which I had to write myself using the CDROM from DOS, because OS/2 couldn't use that particular CDROM successfully yet.

jhbadger 9y ago

Galactic Civilizations was a pretty great Reach for the Stars/Master of Orion style game that was for a long time OS/2 only, as the developers were OS/2 fanatics. Later versions did get Windows ports, though.