On 01-13-95 JOHN HOWARD wrote to AARON HOLMES... 
 
 JH>  -=> Quoting Aaron Holmes (3:670/218) to All on 08 Jan 95  16:19 <=- 
 JH> 
 JH>  AH> I've been considering upgrading from win-doze to Warp, but I 
 JH>  AH> haven't read enough reviews to justify the purchase. Would anyone 
 JH> have 
 JH>  AH> any (unbiased) opinions on Warp vs Windows? 
 JH>  AH> Info on useability, compatibility with Dos and Windows apps, 
 JH>  AH> installation, anything interesting to a prospective user... 
 JH> 
 JH> Well, I can't say that my opinions are unbiased.  But I used Windows 
 JH> 3.0 and 
 JH> 3.1 since they came out.  Also, I very much liked the Apple MacIntosh 
 JH> desktop 
 JH> and handling.  I was curious to see what Warp was all about. 
 JH> 
 JH> I bought OS/2 version 3 in November.  It was a bargain at US$80.  It 
 JH> gave me 
 JH> a MacIntosh-like environment for my 486DX-50 with 8 meg RAM.  It 
 JH> multitasks 
 JH> Windows programs and DOS programs and OS/2 programs.  I have programs 
 JH> in 
 JH> Windows that occasionally crash and bring down Windows 3.1 but in Warp 
 JH> I can 
 JH> recover without a reboot.  Warp has a word processor, a spreadsheet, a 
 JH> database, a report writer, a personal information manager, and a 
 JH> charting 
 JH> program.  Also it has programs to fax and hook onto a BBS or the 
 JH> Internet. 
 JH> The name of the game with Warp from a user's perspective is 
 JH> multimedia.  From 
 JH> a programmers's perspective, it is a dream.  It has a good interpreted 
 JH> language called REXX which is fine for batch programming and to 
 JH> replace 
 JH> BASIC.  Warp is a true 32-bit multitasking operating system with an 
 JH> object-oriented user interface. 
 JH> 
 JH> Warp has an Easy install (recommended) and an Advanced install option. 
 JH>  The 
 JH> only downside to Warp is the lack of physical documentation.  Most of 
 JH> the 
 JH> information is in online help.  For me Warp takes about 45 M disk 
 JH> space. 
 JH> 
 JH> Here is what I'd recommend: 
 JH> 
 JH> minimum 386DX-40 CPU 
 JH> minimum 8 megs RAM 
 JH> minimum 200 MB hard disk 
 JH> an S3 accelerated SVGA video card (minimum 1 meg RAM) 
 JH> a SoundBlaster II or ProAudio Spectrum 16 
 JH> optional Windows 3.1 and DOS 
 JH> 
 JH> Warp can run on a 386SX VGA with 4 megs RAM and take 35-55 MB disk 
 JH> space. 
 JH> 
 JH> As a future outlook, OS/2 will be on the IBM PowerPC's.  And the 
 JH> PowerPC's 
 JH> are less expensive to produce than 80486 type processors.  The PowerPC 
 JH> is 
 JH> comparable to a fast 486 and can be used in portable computers.  This 
 JH> is the 
 JH> direction that PC platform hardware is heading.  So Warp is the 
 JH> operating 
 JH> system which can transition DOS and Windows users into a 
 JH> cost-effective 
 JH> upward migration path.  In my opinion, OS/2 will be easier to write 
 JH> reliable 
 JH> programs for than Windows.  And we all know that software is what ends 
 JH> up 
 JH> costing the most in a computer system. 
 JH> 
 JH> ==John Howard== 
 JH> 
 JH> ... Howard International, P.O. Box 34633, NKC MO 64116 
 
Interesting recommendations..Can you please add to the list your choice of 
CD-ROM (quad-speed, Dble-Speed) for ease of installation, Reliability, 
quality of Drivers etc...? 
Thank you! 
Antoine.Compin{at}SUPPORT>COM

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