Introduction
This file is intended to serve as an answer to the above question, which
is being posed with increasing regularity to various OS/2 newsgroups. I
am posting this to comp.os.os2.advocacy, where it really belongs, and to
comp.os.os2.misc, where people will read it who may give me feedback,
and where potential OS/2 buyers are more likely to see it. This file is
undergoing continual, but mostly minor, revisions. Please feel free to
e-mail me with corrections or additional information.
Sections which have changed since the previous version are marked with
the new icon (like this text).
Unfortunately, the question of whether to buy OS/2 has no simple "yes"
or "no" answer. The answer depends upon the user's hardware, software,
and purpose for having a computer. This FAQ therefore goes over some of
the issues involved in answering the question, in the hopes that the
reader can construct the answer from the individual sub-answers.
The nature of this FAQ necessarily means that it overlaps somewhat with
other, more-established OS/2 FAQs. The interested reader is encouraged
to examine one or more of the following OS/2 FAQs:
- WARPFAQ3.ZIP -- Tim Sipples' main OS/2 FAQ. This has information on what OS/2 is, OS/2 resources and programs, etc. It's thin on OS/2 installation and debugging tips, though.
- GBU104.ZIP -- John Altstadt's Good, Bad, & Ugly hardware list for OS/2, which lists hardware that's known to work well or not-well under OS/2. Updates to this file are normally posted to the OS/2 newsgroups every Sunday, but haven't been recently, due to time constraints on the author.
- PCIWARE.ZIP --
Pat Duffy's PCI hardware information for OS/2, which gives information on PCI chipsets, motherboards, SCSI controllers, EIDE controllers, and video boards under OS/2. Updates to this file are normally posted to the OS/2 newsgroups every Sunday.
- PFAQ32.ZIP -- Andreas Almroth's Programmer's FAQ for OS/2, which answers questions about programming under OS/2.
- OS2FNFAQ.ZIP -- Cliff Cullum's OS/2 Font FAQ. Addresses questions about fonts and their use under OS/2.
- TMFAQ21.ZIP -- Christian Scarborough's Team OS/2 FAQ, which tells you what Team OS/2 is, and what it does.
- OS2D-FGA.ZIP -- The OS2DOS Frequently Given Answers. This is a summary of most of the frequently given answers from the FIDONET OS2DOS echo, covering all sorts of issues of running legacy DOS and Windows applications under OS/2, from "Can I use DOS programs on HPFS?" through to "What about VxDs?".
- PROSCONS.ZIP -- The Highly Unofficial FIDONET OS2DOS C++ Compilers Pros and Cons list. The developer switching to OS/2 will want this in order to compare and contrast the main C++ compilers for OS/2 (Borland, Watcom, IBM, Metaware, EMX) and get further information about toolkits, DirectToSOM C++, and Developer assistance programs.
Most of these are available on ftp-os2.nmsu.edu or ftp-os2.cdrom.com,
under the os2/newsltr or os2/info directory. The contents of the
PCIWARE.ZIP file can be found on ftp.netcom.com under the pub/ab/abe
directory (grab everything with "pci" in the filename). OS2D-FGA.ZIP
and PROSCONS.ZIP FAQs are available on FidoNet from DoNoR by File
Requesting from 2:440/4.0. Some or all of these may also be available
on rtfm.mit.edu (an ftp site devoted to FAQs of all sorts) under the
pub/usenet/comp.os.os2.misc or pub/usenet/news.answers directories.
Many of these FAQs, as well as the one you're reading now, are available
on many web sites. These sites can be found in the index page.
Note that I use "Windows" to refer to Microsoft Windows 3.10, MS Windows 3.11, MS Windows for Workgroups 3.10, and MS Windows for Workgroups 3.11. OS/2 treats all four versions more-or-less identically -- solely as
a means of running Windows programs. The networking and disk access mechanisms of WfW aren't used by OS/2. OS/2 provides its own disk access, which is either better than or worse than that of WfW, depending upon who's doing the judging. OS/2 Warp 3.0 i
ncludes no built-in networking, though there are add-on networking packages for it.
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