Re: Operating Systems

[John Howard <jhoward@sky.net>]

On Tue, 22 Jul 1997, Robert D. Yexley wrote:
> Looking for some objective opinions.  I am a new programmer and am going
> to be doing it for a living and will be buying a new computer soon.  I
> am trying to find out what will be the best and most practical operating
> system to run on a home computer that will be used for programming a
> lot.  I have heard very good things about Windows NT, but dont know much
> about it.  Are there any good books that could help me with this?  Can
> somebody help me with what would be best for these purposes?  Thanks for
> the help.

I am letting these chips fly and fall wherever. <grin>

A comical paraphrase from the Unix Haters Handbook site: "Linux is free if 
your time is worthless." Otherwise opt for a commercialized operating 
system that has proven itself reliable and that will not suddenly
disappear to force you to upgrade your computer systems. (Some 
distributions of Linux are commercialized and hence not "free". Though 
Linux may not even be the best value at any price. It lacks technology
which is patented and used by other operating systems.)

I recommend OS/2 Warp 4 with built-in WIN-OS2 support for Microsoft
Windows v3.1 programs. WIN-OS2 is provably more reliable than MS Windows
v3.1. And OS/2 can coexist with many other PC operating systems such as 
versions of DOS. Most existing PC software is still DOS and Windows 3.1 
programs. But many developers expect the future trend for PC software will 
be to increasingly adopt Java technology. The reasons are cheaper 
distribution and broader interoperability.

Consequently Microsoft is reportedly redesigning Windows 98 to have a 
workplace user interface similar to a browser. But IBM does not need to 
change the OS/2 user interface as radically since the OS/2 WorkPlace Shell 
(WPS) was designed as a true object-oriented desktop and has been around 
for five years. It is no big deal to customize the "look" of WPS while 
retaining mostly the same "feel" by the user. Familiarity is comforting.

My criteria for selecting an operating system is based upon ease-of-use,
open interoperability (to protect my past & future software investments), 
and affordable technical support for software development.

For an annual subscription less than $300 I got the Warp 4 operating 
system and the development tools from IBM via their Developer Connection 
Release 2 CD's. Quarterly, support is provided to program for Open32 
(Win32 API tailored to OS/2), OpenDoc, OpenGL, VoiceType, WIN-OS2, DOS,
OS/2, device drivers, Java, AIX Unix, databases, and various IBM servers 
designed for many kinds of networking. Extensive documentation is provided
on the CD's and the hyperlinks to the Internet. Includes multiplatform
VisualAge compilers for C++, COBOL, Basic, and Java.

http://www.developer.ibm.com/devcon/
United States: 1-800-6DEVCON (1-800-633-8266) annual subscription

You can find a free GNAT Ada 95 compiler for OS/2 at www.adahome.com.
I use OS/2 as a PC host development environment that lets me target 
multiple environments. OS/2 has existed for a long time and there is no 
reason for it to disappear considering there are at least ten million
regular OS/2 users.

Case in point: I heard that Apple recently ended further development of 
OpenDoc. This news does not mean that IBM has to abandon OpenDoc. (I don't 
know what IBM will ultimately do.) But OpenDoc is nicely integrated into 
Warp 4 already and recent IBM plans have been for further integration with 
Java Beans support. This means applets will be able to open up a familiar 
OpenDoc environment for viewing or editing data. With Java Beans an applet 
does not have to be customized to support a specific user environment such 
as Windows 95 ActiveX controls. I like OpenDoc now that I've used it. The 
integration of voice recognition with OpenDoc does need to be improved for 
the next version of OS/2. I just hope more people get a chance to use it.

Warp 4 really is a cool environment. Increasingly, OS/2 users surf the web 
by talking to a Netscape browser (though I still use a Unix text-based 
browser due to my slow modem and old habits). Linux does not have voice 
recognition built-in and neither does NT. Integrated voice recognition is
a very important ease-of-use factor. The main benefit of OpenDoc is
familiarity. You learn how to do things once the easy way and that way can 
be consistently reused for other applications.

Of course, if you've never experienced IBM VoiceType or OpenDoc then all 
my talk about OS/2 ease-of-use issues probably seems like fluff. Too bad. 
I began using OS/2 with Warp 3 when it was released in 1994. DOS and 
Windows were my old habits at the time and they still are for me in OS/2. 
Obviously Microsoft will cause huge changes due to the migration of
Windows 95 users toward Windows 98. At the very least Windows 95 device
drivers will have to be changed or hardware you've purchased will be
abandoned in the migration. OS/2 users were introduced to similar woes 
about five years ago. But our pain from searching for device drivers for 
our existing equipment has mostly subsided. We learned to only buy new 
equipment that came with a Warp driver. It is fair to say the Windows 98 
pain is about to begin. And this time around it will not bother me a bit.

-- John Howard <jhoward@sky.net>               -- Team Ada  Team OS/2 --
P.S.: I am not the same John Howard who works for IBM and helped write
      OS/2. I can see where that might become confusing.