Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!mailrus!csd4.csd.uwm.edu!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!ginosko!uunet!philmtl!ray From: ray@philmtl.philips.ca (Raymond Dunn) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: what machines will run os/2 PM 1.1? Message-ID: <674@philmtl.philips.ca> Date: 29 Aug 89 17:24:38 GMT References: <25904@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> <328@icdi10.UUCP> Reply-To: ray@philmtl.philips.ca (Raymond Dunn) Organization: Philips Electronics Ltd. - St. Laurent P.Q., Canada Lines: 64 In article <328@icdi10.UUCP> fr@icdi10.UUCP (Fred Rump from home) writes: >In article <25904@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> andy@garnet.berkeley.edu (Andy Lieberman) writes: >->A fried of mine is going to buy some software that only runs >->on OS/2 Presentation Manager Version 1.1. The software >->vendor said he will have to buy a real IBM or a Compaq. >->Is there any chance of being able to get OS/2 1.1 on a >->generic 386 (e.g., Mylex) by then? > >You've just put your finger on the reason for OS/2 anything. >Your friend should also buy some stock in IBM. He has seen the light. > >You gotta keep those pesky competitors out there in the cold. > >PS there should be some additional vendors supporting OS/2 eventually, but I >don't know about Presentation Manager 1.1. Isn't that a straight IBM product >that only knows about IBM hardware? There are no intrinsic reasons why you can't get OS/2 for your favourite AT compatible clone other than the fact that the clone manufacturer hasn't got around to releasing it as a commercial product yet (for all sorts of good and bad reasons). There is no conspiracy. The product *is* available to cloners from MS in a similar way to MSDos. That includes both the 1.0 and 1.1 with presentation manager releases. The only difference in IBM's release is it comes in the "extended edition" which includes SQL and communications facilities. It *is* dangerous however to expect one manufacturer's OS/2 to run on another's machine. "Features" (otherwise known as incompatibilities) of the hardware are often overcome by the BIOS (which is there for just that purpose!). With MSDos, some features occasionally must additionally be overcome in IO.SYS. With OS/2, hardware compatibility is of particular concern, because OS/2 must take over completely from the BIOS in order to fully support multi-threading device drivers. OS/2 can thus not even take advantage of a compatability layer implemented in the BIOS, and should be regarded as the ultimate ill-behaved program (even OS/2's use of the BIOS during booting has shown up BIOS compatibility problems on some machines). To try to dispell *some* of the myths surrounding OS/2 and PS/2, the only thing PS/2 has that is specifically connected to OS/2 is the ABIOS. PS/2 machines have two BIOSes. The CBIOS, or Compatibility BIOS, essentially implements all the fucntionality of an AT class BIOS. The ABIOS, or Advanced BIOS (not to be confused with Phoenix's use of the term for their AT BIOS), implements some of that multi-threading functionality, as well as some new features. The ABIOS is *NOT* intrinsically required for OS/2. PS/2 versions of OS/2 make use of this ABIOS, but AT versions include that functionality as part of the loaded operating system. In contradiction to the impression IBM creates, MSDos and OS/2 can each run equally well on both AT class machines and PS/2's, and will both be supported on up-coming EISA implementations. Disclaimer: The above should be taken as personal opinion of the writer, may not reflect that of Philips Electronics Ltd., and is given for information purposes only. -- Ray Dunn. | UUCP: ..!uunet!philmtl!ray Philips Electronics Ltd. | TEL : (514) 744-8200 Ext: 2347 600 Dr Frederik Philips Blvd | FAX : (514) 744-6455 St Laurent. Quebec. H4M 2S9 | TLX : 05-824090