Introduction

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 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.
GBU109.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.
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.
PFAQ34.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.
TMFAQ24.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 applica- tions under OS/2, from "Can I use DOS programs on HPFS?" through to "What about VxDs?".
FIDOCPP.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.
OS/2 Soundcard summary -- I maintain information on sound cards under OS/2. It is available via my web site. This covers many (but not all) popular sound cards, and gives tips on driver availability and known limitations.
Unofficial OS/2 Beta FAQ -- A FAQ on beta versions of OS/2 is available on the web from http://www.students.uiuc.edu/~kwilas/. This has information about development of future versions of OS/2.

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. Tim Sipples' OS/2 FAQ is published in an expanded book form, including a CD-ROM with drivers and utilities, by IDG Books (ISBN 1-56884-472-7).

In addition to these FAQs, there are several OS/2-related web sites which may be of interest to somebody considering purchasing OS/2. These include:

IBM's main web page. 'Nuff said.
The Warp Pharmacy, a site devoted to OS/2 information and troubleshooting. There are mirrors of this site around the world (this link goes to a North American site; the original is in Australia).
The Berkeley OS/2 User Group's homepage. This has links to other useful OS/2 web sites, FAQs, etc.
Henry Rieke's Ultimate Sound web page, which includes drivers and sound-related utilities.
IBM Europe's Device Driver Repository, from which you can download assorted drivers for OS/2 Warp which don't come with the base OS (either updated or new drivers).
The CincinnatiTeam OS/2 Update List, which has links to major OS/2 software updates.
The EDM/2 homepage. EDM/2 is an online OS/2 developer's magazine containing book and utility reviews, programming how-to columns, and other material of interest to programmers.
The Indelible Bluehomepage. Indelible Blue is one of the major OS/2 mail-order retailers. Check this page to see what sort of native OS/2 software is available.
The OS/2 Forum has OS/2 information in German.
Information on OS/2 voicemail programs can be obtained from http://www.he.net/~jubjub/.