OS/2 FAQ List: User's Edition (4 Apr 94)

(1.6) Why Choose OS/2?

Why should I choose OS/2 over its competitors?

{{ There are many products which compete with OS/2, at least to some 
extent.  Before comparing OS/2 with those products, it is important to 
understand what strengths OS/2 brings to the table.

OS/2 2.1 requires a PC with a 386SX (or better) and preferably 6 MB of RAM 
(or more).  If you do not have the hardware required to run OS/2 (and 
cannot conveniently upgrade), other choices should be considered. 
 However, OS/2 is considered the "lightest" (in terms of resource 
requirements) of all the new crop of 32-bit operating systems (which 
includes Microsoft NT, NeXTStep, Novell UnixWare, and Solaris). 
 Furthermore, IBM has made great strides in reducing the amount of memory 
required by OS/2, most recently in Version 2.11 [see (4.6) Corrective 
Service Diskettes].  A PC which is well-equipped to run Windows for DOS is 
also well-equipped to run OS/2.

OS/2 is based on a stable, proven design (which started with OS/2 1.0, 
introduced in 1987).  Today's OS/2 barely resembles Version 1.0, yet 
applications written for that version still run under OS/2 2.1, 
unmodified.  OS/2 1.x found ready markets in so-called "mission critical" 
applications, including automatic teller machines for banking, 
point-of-sale systems, process control and factory automation, network 
software, and more.  Other operating systems (particularly NT) have not 
had the benefit of a long period of testing and reliable operation.

As noted in (1.3) DOS and Windows Compatibility, OS/2 is generally 
acknowledged to be the most DOS and Windows compatible 32-bit operating 
system on the market.  OS/2 users have access to the broad range of 
software written for these environments (in addition to the growing 
library of native OS/2 software) without sacrificing compatibility or 
performance.  Again, this ability stands in contrast to the mediocre DOS 
and Windows compatibility (and performance) found in such operating 
systems as NT, NeXTStep, Solaris, UnixWare, Linux, and others.  NT, for 
example, cannot tolerate most DOS device drivers, has no specific DOS 
session features, will not run DOS graphics applications in windows on the 
desktop, and does not provide OS/2's separate session capabilities for 
Windows applications.  IBM calls OS/2 "the integrating platform" because 
it actually lends functionality to all applications, even if you only run 
DOS and Windows programs.

Currently DOS with Windows is the most common operating environment on PCs 
(with OS/2 in second place and closing the gap).  OS/2 provides several 
advantages over plain DOS/Windows, such as:

 Preemptive multitasking.  OS/2 can run more than one application at the 
 same time, and no application can ever take all the CPU attention away 
 from the other tasks.  Downloading files, formatting diskettes, printing, 
 mathematically intensive tasks, and other computer-hogging jobs can run 
 reliably, in the background, freeing your computer so you can work more 
 effectively.

 Multithreading.  OS/2 applications can be written to use threads (also 
 known as subtasks).  Threads also run in the background so that an 
 application never stops responding to your input.  For example, with the 
 DeScribe word processor's multithreaded printing, you can tell the 
 application to print the file then immediately make another revision, 
 without waiting for the document to even spool to the print queue.

 Enhanced Configurability.  Your DOS applications, for example, can have 
 individually tailored CONFIG.SYS settings -- no rebooting required.  So, 
 if you want to play that game of Wing Commander, you do not have to get 
 rid of your TSRs and network drivers beforehand.

 Crash Protection.  Every application running under OS/2 is isolated from 
 all the other applications.  If one application decides to write to 
 random areas of memory, OS/2 will promptly notify you of the offense. 
  All your other applications continue to run, unharmed.  Neither DOS nor 
 Windows offer such complete protection.  For example, if you have a 
 Windows application which likes to crash (cause a GPF error), OS/2 can 
 run it in a separate Win-OS/2 session.  If the application self 
 destructs, all your other DOS, Windows, and OS/2 applications which may 
 be running never miss a beat.

 Workplace Shell.  Literally millions of dollars are spent on Windows 
 desktop replacements and accessories (such as Norton Desktop, PC Tools, 
 and so on).  If you do not like the Windows Program Manager and File 
 Manager (still available under OS/2), OS/2's Workplace Shell is worthy of 
 your attention.  Folders can be nested.  Objects (including files) can 
 have long names (so you don't have to remember what "Y6EDGQTR.ILK" 
 means).  Your desktop is almost infinitely customizable: every folder can 
 have a different color or background, for example.  And consistency is 
 maintained throughout the Workplace Shell.  Want to print a file? Drag it 
 to the printer object.  Fax it?  Drag it to the Fax object. Open it? 
  Drag it to an application program object.  Delete it? Drag it to the 
 Shredder.

 Access to OS/2 Applications.  There's only one way to add OS/2 
 applications to your PC: add OS/2.  Many of these applications are not 
 available for any other operating system.  For example, Watcom's VX-REXX 
 and HockWare's VisPro/REXX let you create fully graphical applications in 
 no time flat.  (VX-REXX recently won PC Magazine's Editor's Choice 
 award.)  Lotus cc:Mail for OS/2, which takes full advantage of the 
 Workplace Shell, makes e-mail simple.  IBM's Ultimedia Builder/2, 
 Workplace/2, and Manager/2 are the best multimedia authoring tools 
 available anywhere, better than anything for Windows, says PC Magazine.

 OS/2 costs less (much less) than its competitors.  OS/2 is a best seller 
 and continues to gain ground on plain DOS/Windows, meaning application 
 developers and hardware manufacturers take notice.  OS/2 is likely to be 
 the most popular operating system on PowerPC systems.  OS/2 coexists 
 peacefully with your existing DOS/Windows setup (using either DualBoot or 
 Boot Manager), so you can make the switch at your own pace.  OS/2 
 continues to capture industry awards. Most recently, Windows Magazine 
 named OS/2 to its Top 100 list.  And, for the second straight year, OS/2 
 won Overall Product of the Year from the readers of Infoworld.  (OS/2 
 also earned Infoworld's Software Product of the Year and the 
 Interoperability Award.  In fact, OS/2, with three of the highest awards 
 all to itself, was the only product to win more than one award.)

 But shouldn't I wait for "Chicago"?

 Most industry observers believe that Chicago (Windows 4.0) will not be 
 available until well into 1995.  In other words, Microsoft is promising a 
 product which will offer some of OS/2's features at some point in the 
 future.  Even if you think you are interested in Chicago, OS/2 will not 
 suddenly render your PC unable to run it.  So why not upgrade to OS/2 in 
 the meantime?

 Yet there are several good reasons why you may not be making that 
 upgrade.  First, like most first releases, Chicago will suffer from its 
 share of bugs.  It will take a considerable amount of time (and expense) 
 to solve these problems.  Second, OS/2 is by no means standing still.  By 
 the time Chicago is released, OS/2 should be at least at Version 2.2 (and 
 perhaps even at Version 2.3).  In other words, it will have features 
 (such as support for Symmetric Multiprocessing and the PowerPC) that are 
 not even contemplated for Chicago.

 Chicago will not support any OS/2 applications (whose number is only 
 growing with time).  On the other hand, IBM has pledged to support the 
 Win32s programming interface.  The resource requirements for Chicago will 
 increase over Windows 3.1 (at the same time IBM is fine tuning OS/2 to 
 use less memory and perform better) -- at best Chicago will demand a PC 
 no less powerful than that demanded by OS/2.

 Byte and Windows Sources have pointed to some architectural problems with 
 Chicago.  These publications have cited Chicago's pervasive use of 16-bit 
 subsystems (which will cause "thunking," i.e. a performance hit for calls 
 made by 32-bit applications), failure to protect 16-bit Windows 
 applications from crashing the entire system (which OS/2 already 
 prevents), and the 16-bit locking mechanism (which means that 16-bit 
 Windows applications will not be preempted by Chicago, possibly resulting 
 in hung background file transfers, poor multimedia performance, and other 
 problems, even for 32-bit applications).  Moreover, reportedly all video 
 and network device drivers for Windows 3.1 must be rewritten to work with 
 Chicago.

 Due to the recent court decision from a lawsuit filed by Stac Electronics 
 against Microsoft, DoubleSpace disk compression is no longer available in 
 any of Microsoft's products (including DOS).  As the decision stands, 
 Microsoft will not be able to incorporate disk compression into Chicago 
 unless it licenses the technology from Stac or IBM.  At the same time, 
 IBM is free to add disk compression as a standard part of OS/2 (already 
 available with add-on products).

 Finally, Microsoft made similar promises (on the overwhelming success to 
 be achieved by NT and Windows for Workgroups, most recently).  These 
 promises have not come to pass.  It is far from certain whether Chicago 
 will satisfy the marketplace. }}

 Related information:

 (1.3) DOS and Windows Compatibility 
 (4.6) Corrective Service Diskettes

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