Your ideas on how IBM could improve their sales of OS/2 are right on, but I don't put mutch hope in it happening. I just got back from Comdex PacRim '97 and neither IBM or Lotus were present. In fact I saw no indication that OS/2 or SmartSuite exist.
I have been a user of OS/2 since version 2.0 and I am not sure I will be moving to Warp 4. I am having a hard time getting native OS/2 programs to work with. I bought SmartSuite for Windows with the promise of an upgrade to the OS/2 version by the end of 1996. I now find the SmartSuite for OS/2 only has Word Pro as an OS/2 program, the others are still Windows, and I will now have to wait until summer of '97 or later to get the complete OS/2 version. I am not sure the wait is worth it.
I want to stay with OS/2, but IBM's actions don't give me much hope for the product. As soon as I get some time I'm going to install Windows NT and play around with it. I want to get familiar with it in case I need to switch. I sometimes think the only hope for OS/2 is for a third party to take over the marketing of it.
I am just getting to the latest issue of OS/2 e-Zine!. Really enjoyed the hardware reviews. Very useful as I am trying to figure out the options for buying a new system. One thing that might be good to add on these preloaded systems is whether the software is shipped with the system in some way, and if so, how. For example, my current machine came with a recovery CD that I have used to rebuild the DOS/Win system.
Also I wanted to thank you for the article on CL and sound cards. I have an off brand (Aria Wavetable) that works pretty well in Windows and has an OS/2 driver that works pretty well. There are a few glitches however, one being an incompatibility with the joystick driver in OS/2. I was thinking Sound Blaster, but with CL discontinuing support, I'm not sure this is a good idea.
Lynn, the machines we tested did not come with any recovery CDs or disks. They did come with disks for all drivers but the actual operating system was not included with our test machines. You should check with the individual manufacturers to verify if this is the case with commercial systems though.
So Creative is leaving us OS/2 folks. Oh well. Did you ever hear of Terratec ProMedia? Part of their product line is sound cards. I saw some of their stuff at fall Comdex and a few of the boxes advertised OS/2 support.
One of the reps even indicated that some of the company's music editing software was being ported to OS/2, but I'm not sure how reliable his information is. For me this would be too good to be true. But this is a German company we're talking about and OS/2 seems to be doing well over there so who knows. If you speak or read German here is the info I have:
TerraTec Electronic GmbH
Phone (02157)8179-0
Fax (02157)8179-22
I read with interest the article on the ESS chip soundcards, but was confused in regards to the problems they might have with VT if using the full-duplex drivers? Will VT not work if using the ESS drivers? If it won't is this a fixable problem.
VT won't work at all with the ESS drivers. If you want VT, you must use the drivers that IBM includes with Warp4. If you want the full duplex drivers, you can't use VT. I don't know if the problem is fixable or not, it appears to be a limitation of MMOS/2. Hopefully IBM will fix the problem in the future, but I think MMOS/2 is down on the priority list now...
Jon Cochran's latest "Need for Speed" discusses the ESS 1868 audio chip and includes a link to their web site, where he suggests OS/2 users download drivers. I own an ESS 1688 no-name card, and was interested in getting updated drivers myself . . . but the ESS page is not the place to go.
From ESS's FAQ:
"HOW DO I GET UPDATED DRIVERS? Almost all major PC manufacturers who use ESS Technology, Inc. audio devices incorporate custom audio drivers. You should contact your PC or sound card manufacturer to obtain the latest release of the ESS Technology, Inc. audio driver."If he found his drivers on that page, it would have been more helpful to link directly to the driver download portion. I looked, but found none.
The correct URL for the drivers page is...
http://www.esstech.com/techsupp/updates/intro_ud.htm
All the OEM people use the exact same drivers, just with
different names slapped on the discs. ESS puts that disclaimer up
basically so they won't have to help you if you muck your system up
installing their drivers. ESS also options out different "accessory"
programs (CD Players, Equalizers, etc.) to different vendors, which
are unavailable from that page, AFAIK.
I or someone I know may or may not have received an early beta copy of Windows NT 5.0 from Microsoft. And although that person or persons may not be able to discuss the product (probably because of signed non-disclosure agreements), that person or persons might be able to suggest that Windows NT 5.0 possibly could have many (but definitely not all) of the features that were discussed for Warp 5 in a recent edition of your e-zine.
Whatever else can or cannot be said about this early beta which may or may not exist, it has definitely (further) piqued the curiosity and interest of those fortunate few who may or may not have received this either mythical or factual product. Even among those who still love, use and prefer OS/2.
All of the above is strictly hypothetical and should be considered as such. I neither confirm nor deny it. But if it is true, wouldn't it be great (and a DEFINITE marketing necessity) if IBM released an early beta of the next major release of OS/2 to its plethora (but quite possibly decreasing) number of fans?
At the very least it would prove to the unknowing public -- including corporate decision-makers -- that OS/2 is NOT dead!
This is what I would call increasing "mindshare" and this is what Microsoft does best. And what IBM needs to do.
Anonymous
I just made the jump to Warp 4. When I did I noticed many things did not migrate that I would have expected to,
I had to retype the entries into my "Dial Other Providers" object, my launch pad did not have any of the same objects. And I still have not found any documentation in the information folder that deals with easing the transition from Warp 3 to Warp 4.
Sounds like a job for you guys with a regular feature.
This is certainly something we'll take into consideration.
For the life of me, I don't understand why I never see any mention in OS/2 e-Zine! of SpeedSoft's Speed Pascal/2 or (in beta) the new Sibyl (OS/2 Delphi) compiler.
We are looking in to a review of these products. Look for them in future issues.
Is OS/2 an operating system or a cult? If you want to wait a year for for today's hot software to come out, then OS/2 is the OS of the 1990s. But if you want today's software today, there's trouble.
Admittedly OS/2 users are very enthusiastic about their OS. Rather than making you mock us, this should tell you something about the difference between our OS and your OS (whatever it may be). We love ours for a good reason: it is a great product.
I am a dedicated OS/2 lover, and I am certainly thrilled to see that the OS/2 ezine I read most of the times finally carries a hardware review, and the fact that there are PCs preloaded with Warp on the market.
Several months ago I saw in another OS/2 ezine about a different type of hardware review, in which they load Warp 4 themselves on computers being reviewed to test how they work well with Warp. Their results are very interesting. This is a type of alternate hardware reviews I would like to see.
This is a type of review we have considered. For now we are focusing on companies that preload and support OS/2. In the future we may pursue this type of review though.
Hi. Thanks for your hardware reviews. They're very informative, even to someone living on this side of the world. Although we can't necessarily buy the systems reviewed under the same brand names or from the same vendors the lists of hardware combinations are a good pointer of what to look for in an OS/2 system.
One small point -- you didn't give any indication of testing Win-OS/2 apps. I know that it was an OS/2 test and I fully support that but unfortunately some of us are forced to run such apps as WinWord and Excel for compatibility reasons (with work, etc). It would be very useful to have some indication of Win-OS/2 performance (particularly app loading speed, responsiveness and video performance) as well as native OS/2 apps.
We chose not to test Win-OS2 capabilities of these machines because of the focus of our magazine. Our purpose is to "promote the use and discussion of OS/2 and its native software."
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