Very Computer

by **Jim Morr** » Sun, 05 Dec 1993 05:43:35

Hi!

I am seriously considering the purchase of OS/2 for Windows (or at least
putting it on my Christmas list), and am considering the CD-ROM version,
since it is $10 cheaper.

Does anyone know if the CD-ROM for OS/2 for Windows has diskette images,
like the OS/2 2.1 Beta CD-ROM did (and Upgrade CD-ROM's do)? I have access
to a CD-ROM driveon a DOS-based PC, but not on the PC I would be installing
OS/2 on.

Also, my 386sx-25 has only 5MB of RAM. I am aware that without more RAM,
a good bit of swapping will be going on. What I am interested in
hearing is whether anyone else is running OS/2 2.1 on such a system, and
if so, how slow it gets if I am just interested in running 2-3 DOS
programs concurrently. Also, how much swap space is used in the process.
Typical applications would include things like Telix 3.20, OzCIS 1.2,
MYM 9.0, GeoWorks 2.0, Turbo C++ 3.0, and a few games (Prince of Persia,
Space Quest V, etc).

Would I be better waiting for the rumoured "4MB" OS/2 to come out? Or
is there even going to be such an animal?

by **rsm..** » Sun, 05 Dec 1993 23:22:23

> I am seriously considering the purchase of OS/2 for Windows (or at least
> putting it on my Christmas list), and am considering the CD-ROM version,
> since it is $10 cheaper.

> Does anyone know if the CD-ROM for OS/2 for Windows has diskette images,
> like the OS/2 2.1 Beta CD-ROM did (and Upgrade CD-ROM's do)? I have access
> to a CD-ROM driveon a DOS-based PC, but not on the PC I would be installing
> OS/2 on.

Yes, disk images are included in the CD-ROM release; however, we're talking
about somewhere in the neighborhood of 15-20 disks here, so when you add in the
cost of floppies, you won't be saving any money by purchasing the CD-ROM
version, unless you either re-use the floppies (not a good idea, since you may
need them again to install a device driver or something) or assume that you'd
make a backup of the floppies in a floppy release of OS/2 (which IS a good
idea, since disk failures DO happen).

Quote:> Also, my 386sx-25 has only 5MB of RAM. I am aware that without more RAM,
> a good bit of swapping will be going on. What I am interested in
> hearing is whether anyone else is running OS/2 2.1 on such a system, and
> if so, how slow it gets if I am just interested in running 2-3 DOS
> programs concurrently. Also, how much swap space is used in the process.
> Typical applications would include things like Telix 3.20, OzCIS 1.2,
> MYM 9.0, GeoWorks 2.0, Turbo C++ 3.0, and a few games (Prince of Persia,
> Space Quest V, etc).

> Would I be better waiting for the rumoured "4MB" OS/2 to come out? Or
> is there even going to be such an animal?

I can't speak from direct experience, but I would imagine that multitasking a
couple of DOS programs which don't require more than 640K of RAM shouldn't
stress a 5MB OS/2 system too much. Running Windows under OS/2 on such a
machine is rumored to be a nightmare, though.

As to the "rumoured '4MB' OS/2," I've just heard that one of IBM's design goals
for the next version of OS/2 will be to make it run well on a 4MB system, but
I've no information on when they expect this release, or whether this means
that the next full release will have memory management improvements, or whether
there'll be a special version for small-memory systems. Perhaps somebody else
will know more....

--Rod Smith

by **Andrew Willia** » Sun, 05 Dec 1993 18:31:17

>I am seriously considering the purchase of OS/2 for Windows (or at least
>putting it on my Christmas list), and am considering the CD-ROM version,
>since it is $10 cheaper.
>Does anyone know if the CD-ROM for OS/2 for Windows has diskette images,
>like the OS/2 2.1 Beta CD-ROM did (and Upgrade CD-ROM's do)? I have access
>to a CD-ROM driveon a DOS-based PC, but not on the PC I would be installing
>OS/2 on.

If you only save $10 on the CDROM version, and you have no plans to buy
a CDROM drive, you are better off going for the disk version- It will
take ages to create the disk images, and you have to actually PAY for
the disks. You could reuse the disks later, I guess, but they are handy
to have around in case you need to install video drivers, fonts, printer
drivers, or system components (like MahJongg... :-).

Quote:>Also, my 386sx-25 has only 5MB of RAM. I am aware that without more RAM,
>a good bit of swapping will be going on. What I am interested in
>hearing is whether anyone else is running OS/2 2.1 on such a system, and
>if so, how slow it gets if I am just interested in running 2-3 DOS
>programs concurrently. Also, how much swap space is used in the process.
>Typical applications would include things like Telix 3.20, OzCIS 1.2,
>MYM 9.0, GeoWorks 2.0, Turbo C++ 3.0, and a few games (Prince of Persia,
>Space Quest V, etc).

All the above should run fine, but you might want to disable the WPS for
speed, and using HPFS is out. Read the FAQ for tips on saving RAM.

Quote:>Would I be better waiting for the rumoured "4MB" OS/2 to come out? Or
>is there even going to be such an animal?

Come on- this is the computer industry your talking about. If you start
putting off purchases because something better is just around the
corner, you'll never buy anything at all...

Andrew Williams,
Physics, Uni of Western Australia.

Very Computer

Disk images on OS/2 4 Win CD-ROM?

Disk images on OS/2 4 Win CD-ROM?

Disk images on OS/2 4 Win CD-ROM?

Disk images on OS/2 4 Win CD-ROM?