Black Box 4/BlackBox.cdr/os2/faq20a.arj/FAQ20A.TXT/__headers__.txt

Text File | 1992-05-08 | 7.9 KB | 162 lines

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Archive-name: os2-faq
Version: 2.0a

OS/2 Frequently Asked Questions List: User's Edition
Release 2.0a; May 8, 1992
Compiled by Timothy F. Sipples

For changes/suggestions/additions please mail [e-mail].
This List may be freely distributed.  Mention of a product does not
constitute an endorsement.  Answers to questions closer to the bottom of
the List may rely on information given in prior answers.  Customers
outside the U.S. should not necessarily rely on 800 telephone numbers,
part numbers, or upgrade policies contained in this List.  Electronic
mail addresses are in Internet form; use addressing appropriate to your
mail system.

Release Notes:  The Programmer's Edition of the FAQ List is coming; mail
[e-mail] with your contributions.

Questions Addressed in this Release:

(1)     What is OS/2?
(2)     What are the differences between versions?
(3)     What is Extended Services/2?
(4)     How good is OS/2 2.0's DOS and Windows compatibility?
(5)     Where can I buy OS/2?
(6)     How much does OS/2 2.0 cost?
(7)     What hardware do I need to run IBM OS/2 2.0?  Do I need a PS/2?
(8)     What applications are available for OS/2?
(9)     Where can I obtain OS/2 shareware and freeware?
(10)    I am having trouble installing OS/2 2.0.  What should I do?
(11)    Will OS/2 2.0 work with my SuperVGA adapter?
(12)    Will OS/2 2.0 work with my printer?
(13)    How do I access HPFS partitions on my hard drive without booting        from the hard drive?  I'm getting error messages now -- how do I        "repair" my hard disk?
(14)    I can't install OS/2 from Drive B.  What's wrong?
(15)    Is there a Norton Utilities for OS/2?
(16)    Sometimes OS/2 2.0 will freeze when I run an application?  What do        I do?
(17)    How can I get answers to my OS/2 questions?
(18)    Why should I use HPFS?  What does it offer me?  Does it work with        DOS?
(19)    I'm a Unix wizard.  How do I make OS/2 resemble Unix?
(20)    I prefer Windows.  How do I make OS/2 2.0 resemble Windows (or        OS/2 1.3)?
(21)    I would like to set up an OS/2 BBS.  What is available?
(22)    Can I use COM3 and COM4 in OS/2 2.0?
(23)    How do I start a background process from the OS/2 command line?
(24)    What are CSDs, how do I tell which I have, and where do I get        them?
(25)    How do I add new Adobe Type Manager typefaces?
(26)    How do I tweak OS/2 2.0 for maximum performance?
(27)    What networking products are available for OS/2 2.0?
(28)    Should I worry about viruses when running OS/2 2.0?
(29)    Are there any clever tricks that apply to OS/2 2.0?

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(1)     What is OS/2?

OS/2 is an advanced operating system for PCs and PS/2s with an 80286
processor or better.  It was codeveloped by Microsoft and IBM and
envisioned as the successor to DOS.

It was designed from the ground up with preemptive multitasking and
multithreading in mind.  It also protects applications from one another
(a single misbehaved program will not typically disrupt the entire
system), supports multimegabytes of physical RAM, and supplies virtual
memory to applications as requested, breaking DOS's 640K barrier.

As shipped, it does not support multiuser operation, although third
parties have grafted multiuser capabilities onto the base operating
system.  Remote-OS (The Software Lifeline, 407-994-4466), OS2YOU
(shareware; see Question 9), Citrix (Citrix Systems, 305-755-0559), and
PolyMod2 (MemSoft) are four such products.

------------------------------

(2)     What are the differences between versions?

IBM OS/2 Version 2.0 (CSD Level 02000, see Question 24) is now widely
available in retail release.  Version 2.0 will run only on machines with
an 80386SX processor or better.  IBM is (now) developing OS/2 (and its
Intel and non-Intel-based successors) independently but is involving
third party PC manufacturers in its testing.  Improvements include the
ability to preemptively multitask DOS, Windows 2.x, and Windows 3.0
(real and standard mode) applications (without purchasing any of these
environments) in separate, robust, protected sessions; an object-
oriented Workplace Shell (WPS); a multiple operating system boot
mechanism; new 32-bit programming interfaces; support for more than 16
MB of physical RAM; and more third party device drivers.  It also
provides EMS 3.2/4.0 and XMS 2.0/DPMI 0.9 (expanded and extended memory)
services to DOS and Windows applications.  OS/2 1.x applications,
unmodified, still run under OS/2 2.0.

IBM OS/2 Version 1.3 is the last release of OS/2 to operate on PCs with
80286 CPUs.  This version introduced built-in Adobe Type Manager (ATM),
providing scalable typefaces for screen and printer, and reduced memory
requirements.  Procedures Language/2 (a.k.a. REXX), a powerful batch-
oriented programming language, became a part of Standard Edition with
this release.  (A few OEMs are shipping Microsoft OS/2 Version 1.3, but
Microsoft has all but abandoned OS/2 development.)

OS/2 Version 1.2 was the first to incorporate the High Performance File
System (HPFS, which supports long file names).  With this release IBM
OS/2 added a dual boot mechanism and IBM Extended Edition introduced
REXX.

OS/2 Version 1.1 was the first to include the Presentation Manager (PM)
GUI/API, now an integral part of the operating system.  Microsoft OEM
versions added a dual boot mechanism with this release.

OS/2 Version 1.0, introduced in 1987, was the first release of OS/2.
Task switching was accomplished through a character-based shell and
limited DOS compatibility was provided.

------------------------------

(3)     What is Extended Services/2?

Prior to Version 2.0, IBM offered two separate packages with each
release of OS/2: Standard Edition and Extended Edition.  Extended
Edition included extra, bundled software products: the Communications
Manager (for communication with IBM mainframes, minicomputers, and other
hosts), Database Manager (a full, network aware, relational database),
and LAN Requester.

IBM has now unbundled the Extended Edition features, dropped LAN
Requester from the package (now available separately, with IBM's LAN
Server product), updated it for OS/2 2.0, and renamed it Extended
Services/2 1.0.  ES/2, by itself, no longer includes the base operating
system as Extended Edition once did.

This new arrangement makes it easier to update the base operating system
with CSDs (see Question 24).  And now ES/2 1.0 will run under OS/2 1.3
Standard Edition as well as OS/2 2.0.  Also, ES/2 1.0, like OS/2 2.0
itself, is designed to operate on both IBM and non-IBM systems (see
Question 7).

------------------------------

(4)     How good is OS/2 2.0's DOS and Windows compatibility?

OS/2 1.x justifiably earned a reputation for poor DOS compatibility.
Since it was designed for the 80286, it could not run more than one DOS
application at a time.

The situation has changed dramatically with OS/2 2.0.  Version 2.0
preemptively multitasks DOS and Windows (real and standard mode)
applications in separate, protected sessions, without purchasing either
environment.

OS/2 2.0 provides a complete DOS emulation equivalent to DOS 5.0.  The
operating system can provide each DOS application with up to 32 MB of
EMS 4.0 (expanded memory), 16 MB of XMS 2.0 (extended memory), and/or
512 MB of DPMI 0.9 (DOS Protected Mode Interface extended memory), all
from its pool of physical and/or virtual memory (meaning you do not have
to have as much RAM in your system as your applications request).  These
limits are in addition to the up to 730K free conventional memory
supplied to each DOS application, even after mouse and network drivers
are loaded.  As in DOS 5.0, DOS code and device drivers may be loaded
into high memory.  A 386 memory manager like QEMM or 386Max is not
needed -- these features are provided by OS/2 2.0 directly.