From: pathak@mitre.org (Heeren Pathak)
Subject: Re: Wanted: Your opinions about OS/2 2.x
Followup-To: comp.os.os2.advocacy
Organization: Mitre Corporation
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 16:15:59 GMT

In article <10360@ncrwat.Waterloo.NCR.COM>, herborth@pinot.Waterloo.NCR.Com
(Chris Herborth) wrote:
> 
> Having come to the decision that I need a more powerful computer (my
> trusty Atari ST is nearly at the end of its useful lifespan; hardware
> and software support for the platform is non-existant in North America),
> I've been attracted to OS/2.
> 
> What I'd like is some first hand accounts (in email preferably) of what
> you think of OS/2, especially the WorkPlace Shell.  How does it compare
> to Windows?  X?  The Mac System?  GEM on the Atari?  OS/2 1.2?  Other
> GUIs you've used (NeXTstep, SunOS, whatever)?
> 

I have used Windows, X, the Mac, and the NeXT.  I personally feel that the
OS/2 interface is very similiar to the Mac and NeXT.  It is a real UI
unlike the Windows and X interface which is more a graphical shell.  In
many way the OS/2 interface is even more powerful the either the Mac or
NeXT interfaces.  The OS/2 System Object provides a very robust mechanism
for user interface objects to interact with each other.

The major problem with the OS/2 Work Place Shell (WPS) is that the
implemenation is a bit slow and inconsistent.  With OS/2, IBM has adopted
direct manipulation totally.  Their 1992 CUA specification is really
impressing.  Unfortunately, OS/2 doesn't fully implement this spec yet. 
Thus, things to always work they way you expect them to.  Nothing really
major and I suspect that many people probably won't even notice but I and
very into UI design so I tend to spot small problems.

> What sort of hardware are you running OS/2 on, and how fast/slow does it
> seem?  What problems have you run into?  What great things have you run
> into?
> 

I am running OS/2 on the 486/33 with 8M RAM and 200M HD. OS/2 takes up
about 30M of disk space.  I would recommend that you run OS/2 with a 386
and 8M of RAM minimum.  You probably want a large HD just because Hard
disks tend to fill up fast.  

I really haven't had much problems running OS/2.  It runs very well on my
machine and the only problem I have run into was installing a new hi-res
video driver (I messed up the install and had to manually uninstall it).

Working with OS/2 is really nice.  I tend to do a lot with my system the
multi-tasking nature of OS/2 makes it a great platform.  Just last night, I
was working at home and Faxing stuff out, printing, installing new software
off of my CD-ROM, and working on a paper.  I noticed no speed decrease
while working on my paper.  Everything else was smoothly done in the
background.  This type of capability is why I really like OS/2.

Of course the question always arises, what about NT?  My answer is I will
look at it when it gets here.  OS/2 didn't cost much and provided me the
capability to run all my DOS and Windows software.  Over the course of the
past 6-7 months, I have picked up some shareware software for OS/2.  When
NT arrives, I will take a look at it and see how it works.  Taking with
people I know who are currently using it, it should be out around May.  The
new version of OS/2 should be out by then also.  Once again, reports of the
new OS/2 beta are very favorable.  I plan on looking at Novell's UNIXware
since I have heard some very good things about it.

Depending on how much time you have, I would wait a bit before buying a
system for your parents.  Probably by the end of the summer, the "major"
32-bit systems should be out and you will be able to get a reasonable idea
of how good they are.  In fact, I would even go as far as to say that any
system that isn't out by the end of this summer won't be an impact player
in the 32-bit OS market.

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Heeren Pathak                      | Millions long for immortality who do 
pathak@mitre.org                   | not know what to do with themselves
Mitre Corporation                  | on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
(617) 271-7465                     |	               	-- Susan Ertz
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Disclaimer: Mine not Mitre's.