On (11 Dec 96) Stephen Haffly wrote to Bill Wolff...
Hi Stephen...
 SH> On (07 Dec 96) Bill Wolff wrote to Robert Obrien...
 BW> On (29 Nov 96) Robert Obrien wrote to Peter Campbell...
 RO> Thanks for the reply on installing OS/2. I bought the blue 
 RO> version because I do not have any Microsoft products on my hard 
 RO> drive. However there are one or two Windows programs that I 
 RO> would like to try and this seems to be the best way to get the 
 RO> code without buying the program from Microsoft. They have 
 RO> enough money and do not need mine.
 BW> What a big mistake IMHO. For starters, WIN-OS/2 isn't really 100% 
 BW> Windows compatible. So under some conditions, you need the real 
 BW> thing and the blue box doesn't have the real thing. Also IBM's blue 
 BW> box also sells you a licence to use Windows from Microsoft/IBM 
 BW> agreement. And IBM has to pay Microsoft anyway for this. So you 
 BW> ended up paying Microsoft anyway and ended up with a Windows 
 BW> emulator instead of the real thing. That would tick me off.
 SH> No, it has been recompiled to run FASTER than Microsoft's 
 SH> version. The incompatability comes from Microsoft setting a 
 SH> moving target for the Win32s programs, which OS/2 won't allow 
 SH> because they can jeopardize system stability.
No, there is two WIN-OS/2 versions. One uses your own MS Windows 
copy and OS/2 patches it to work with OS/2. Or the other WIN-OS/2 
version which has IBM's licensed copy built in. Although neither one 
of them is really 100% Windows compatible. I really got tired of 
dropping out of OS/2 a few times per day just to run some of my 
Windows and DOS applications.
 SH> Such programs OS/2 won't allow to run because when you have a 
 SH> mission critical application, you can't have a program crash.
I had more dang crashes under OS/2 than running anything else in my 
life! For example, Warp crashed on average about twice per week. 
Plus I had to reboot a few times per day just to run the real 
Windows because WIN-OS/2 wouldn't run them.
 SH> ... I have read many of your messages spreading FUD about OS/2. 
 SH> Just because you were not able to get it running to your 
 SH> satisfaction doesn't mean that others are in the same boat.
Want to bet? And I don't spread FUD! Everything I say has been 
clearly documented to be true!
 SH> For me it runs fine, with all of the OS/2 applications as well 
 SH> as Geoworks Ensemble and my other DOS programs. Windows 
 SH> programs have no space on my system, although I have Win-OS/2 
 SH> installed to be free to experiment if I want to.
No wonder you don't see any problems. When you start running Windows 
like the masses are (and almost anything has a Windows version 
available and is largely supported), then you might realize what I'm 
talking about.
 RO> I will let you know if I need the printer set up and setting 
 RO> instructions after I get OS/2 installed and set up. I am a 
 RO> little hesitant becuse I am aware that there may be 
 RO> compatibility problems with some of my hardware and I like a 
 RO> computer that runs flawlessly. So far using DOS the worst 
 RO> problems I have had were memory problems with New Deal Office 
 RO> when I tried to print. Those seem to be solved for now though. 
 RO> Again thanks for the help and Happy Thanksgiving from the USA. 
 RO> Bob O'Brien
 BW> You may also find some real nasty bugs within OS/2 that drives me 
 BW> nuts. Like the keyboard going to sleep while you're running with all 
 BW> well behaved applications which means the user has to reboot to get 
 BW> it back. OS/2 also has other annoying quirks as well. But it should 
 BW> at least behave well enough to get GEOS running okay under it. I did 
 BW> for 17 months, now everything runs under W95 and my OS/2 CD-ROMs are 
 BW> now great drink coasters. 
 SH> Again, you talk of experience that may be peculiar to your 
 SH> hardware...
Sorry... but it's not just me. The bug that I had found with Warp is 
do to a bug which effects all computers running Warp v3. Which was 
verified by Denis Tonn. IBM releases FixPak after FixPak for over 
two years and still the bug isn't fixed yet! And when it hits, the 
user has to reboot the computer to get it back. OS/2 running mission 
critical application(s)??? My eye!
 SH> On my system, I have had single input queue lockups, but with 
 SH> Warp 4.0, this has been addressed and occurs much less. For the 
 SH> occasional misbehaving program, Process Commander (Stardock 
 SH> Systems) kills it and gives me control back.
Denis Tonn claims the bug is finally fixed in Warp 4, but Warp 3 
still has the bug. And how many times did I have to reboot in the 
last two years? Many!
 SH> GEOS doesn't only run "okay" under OS/2. It runs well, and 
 SH> allows the other applications to run concurrently, something 
 SH> DOS can't do.
Look! GEOS and Windows runs on top of DOS like a shell. Like it or 
not, DOS running GEOS and/or Windows multitasks. That's something 
Warp wouldn't do for me, if I ran sessions in 640x480x256 or higher 
resolution. As Warp would only task switch between them. See the 
book titled Warp Unleashed for details why it doesn't work on many 
systems.
 SH> OS/2 is also much better at communications while actually 
 SH> multitasking multiple applications than Windows 95...
Oh bull! OS/2 couldn't even run Telix v3.22 in a window while moving 
it around with the mouse. OS/2 is so bad at communications, that Ray 
Gwinn seems to have done well with his SIO driver just to help OS/2 
out some. I have zero communication problems here with W95! And no 
third party drivers either. But OS/2 was just terrible.
 SH> ... There are, however well-behaved multitasking/multithreading 
 SH> OS/2 games just now reaching the market that should break new 
 SH> ground and set much higher standards for future games.
Look! I have been waiting for good and plentiful native OS/2 
applications for 10 years now. So quit pulling on my chain! Native 
OS/2 applications are few and far in between.
 SH> In any case, there are enough of us who run GWE in an OS/2 
 SH> Virtual Dos Machine to be able to help. OS/2 will even detect 
 SH> and set most of the parameters for GWE, and place an icon in 
 SH> the DOS programs folder for it. Additional tweaks can be done 
 SH> from there. Printing may require a change to the OS/2 printer 
 SH> settings to allow the port to be shared. GWE's printing can be 
 SH> set to IRQ7, but if so, then printing will stop when swapping 
 SH> out of GWE. If it is set to DOS, then it will spool to OS/2's 
 SH> spooler and print regardless.
And what do you think happens under W95? Remember I have ran both 
OS. Actually I have ran OS/2 twice as long as I have under W95.
 SH> As much as I prefer OS/2 as a base system compared with either 
 SH> DOS or Windows (Dos with pictures), I admit OS/2 isn't 
 SH> perfect...
When IBM ever gets serious about making the promises come alive and 
third parties starts supporting them, then wake me up okay?
 SH> It still takes far too much in the way of system resources to 
 SH> accomplish what GEOS does, and does very well...
Of course it does.
 SH> ... By the way Bill, how much will it cost you to be able to 
 SH> use voice dictation with your machine? It came included in Warp 
 SH> 4.0.
I've had voice dictation on my Commodore 64 for the past 10 years 
now with a add on product called Hearsay 1000. It's no big deal. I 
still prefer my keyboard and mouse anyway. Btw, the Hearsay worked 
with only 64kb of RAM. And IBM recommends how much RAM with voice 
dictation? Sorry, I need my RAM to get some work done. Not to play 
games and allow OS/2 to eat up my system resources.
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