OS/2 is still alive – Arca OS gets new update

[Dopious]

Can now run on modern computers with UEFI and GPT formatted disks.

In the late 1980s, IBM and Microsoft began working together to develop a new operating system called OS/2, which would replace DOS. The companies could not agree on anything, and in 1990, Microsoft went its own way and focused on Windows instead, but IBM continued to develop OS/2.

Development continued throughout the 1990s, but when Microsoft released Windows 95, market share fell rapidly and IBM released the last internally developed version of the system in 2001. Development then continued for ten years at Serenity Systems, under the name Ecomstation. In 2017, the company Arca Noae resumed development, also under license from IBM.

The system is now called Arca OS, and Arca Noae has just released a new update to version 5.1.2 with several important improvements to be able to run the 32-bit system on modern computers, according to Techspot .

This mainly concerns compatibility with UEFI and hard drives formatted in GPT format and not just BIOS and MBR formatted disks. In addition, it includes many minor improvements to the graphical interface, drivers and translations.

Arca OS can run many older software developed for MS‑DOS and Windows 3.1, but also newer Windows programs thanks to a Wine-based compatibility layer called Odin.

Source: https://www.techspot.com/news/111647-os2-isnt-dead-arcaos-update-brings-1980s-era.html

 

[ggmopa]

That monstrosity doesn't fully support Power ISA and isn't even Open Source. Wth is anyone supposed to do with it?

 

[Dopious]

That monstrosity doesn't fully support Power ISA and isn't even Open Source. Wth is anyone supposed to do with it?

Well, the news gave me some flashbacks, I tested it on my first computer back in 1994, uninstalled it and installed Win95 Beta instead.

 

[Abdul123]

Can now run on modern computers with UEFI and GPT formatted disks.

In the late 1980s, IBM and Microsoft began working together to develop a new operating system called OS/2, which would replace DOS. The companies could not agree on anything, and in 1990, Microsoft went its own way and focused on Windows instead, but IBM continued to develop OS/2.

Development continued throughout the 1990s, but when Microsoft released Windows 95, market share fell rapidly and IBM released the last internally developed version of the system in 2001. Development then continued for ten years at Serenity Systems, under the name Ecomstation. In 2017, the company Arca Noae resumed development, also under license from IBM.

The system is now called Arca OS, and Arca Noae has just released a new update to version 5.1.2 with several important improvements to be able to run the 32-bit system on modern computers, according to Techspot .

This mainly concerns compatibility with UEFI and hard drives formatted in GPT format and not just BIOS and MBR formatted disks. In addition, it includes many minor improvements to the graphical interface, drivers and translations.

Arca OS can run many older software developed for MS‑DOS and Windows 3.1, but also newer Windows programs thanks to a Wine-based compatibility layer called Odin.

Source: https://www.techspot.com/news/111647-os2-isnt-dead-arcaos-update-brings-1980s-era.html

And? None of these unusual operating systems are production-ready, so they are only useful for enthusiasts. If I were to run one of them, I would probably choose Haiku since it's the most mature project.

 

[Dopious]

And?

Flashbacks dude, flashbacks, not everyone here is a youngster.

 

[ggmopa]

Well, the news gave me some flashbacks, I tested it on my first computer back in 1994, uninstalled it and installed Win95 Beta instead.

Oh, it was about the nostalgia was it? Fair enough. My bad

 

[ggmopa]

And? None of these unusual operating systems are production-ready, so they are only useful for enthusiasts. If I were to run one of them, I would probably choose Haiku since it's the most mature project.

If you like Haiku, you might also appreciate HelenOS.

Minix looked like it was an interesting one too, it was Linux's biggest competitor at one time. Sadly the open source project itself has been abandoned but at the same time, ironically it is also possibly the most widely deployed operating systems in the world through Intel's use of it withon their Mangement Engine used on basically every modern Intel chipset.

 

[Abdul123]

If you like Haiku, you might also appreciate HelenOS.

Minix looked like it was an interesting one too, it was Linux's biggest competitor at one time. Sadly the open source project itself has been abandoned but at the same time, ironically it is also possibly the most widely deployed operating systems in the world through Intel's use of it withon their Mangement Engine used on basically every modern Intel chipset.