Arca Noae is modernizing OS/2 Warp for 21st century PCs
(2023/01/19)
- Reference: 1674156071
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/01/19/retro_tech_week_arca_os/
- Source link:
Retro Tech Week Although the creator of OS/2 now owns Red Hat and has other fish to try, OS/2 lives on. The Reg spoke with Arca Noae's Lewis Rosenthal about the issues of updating OS/2 Warp for modern PCs in 2023 – and beyond.
OS/2 has had a long and sometimes troubled history, which The Register [1]looked at in depth when the OS turned 25 . IBM stopped selling OS/2 Warp back in [2]the early part of this century , but that wasn't the end of the line for this indomitable OS.
After IBM stopped selling even the server version, [3]eComStation continued support , and later offered their own updated version, and had [4]plans for further modernization .
After that, Arca Noae [5]picked up the baton with what was originally codenamed Blue Lion . It went on to [6]offer it for sale as Arca OS 5 .
The current version, Arca OS 5.0.7, can boot directly and install from a USB key, which is a first for the OS/2 family – and a significant help.
[7]
On 64-bit hardware, Arca OS can use PAE to turn memory over 4GB into a large, very fast RAMdisk. Version 5.1 is currently in beta testing, and will support installation on UEFI-only machines and onto GPT disks – meaning that it can support media over 2TB in size.
[8]
For Retro Tech Week, The Reg FOSS desk spoke with Rosenthal about what the company was doing with OS/2 today. He told us about what Arca Noae had to do in order to allow this 32-bit OS to install and run on current-generation hardware, including modern browsers, Open Office, Samba for SMB networking over TCP/IP, and more.
He also told us about what kind of customers need Arca OS today, and how useful it can be to DOS and 16-bit Windows software directly on modern hardware. ®
Get our [9]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2012/11/27/the_os_wars_os2_25years_old/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2002/12/17/so_farewell_then_os/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2005/07/15/os2_dead_again/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2015/09/14/world_finally_ready_for_usbbootable_os2/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2015/09/14/world_finally_ready_for_usbbootable_os2/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2017/05/19/new_version_of_os_2_arca_os_5/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y8nLo@xl-ZFhoJEv5izs1QAAAAk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y8nLo@xl-ZFhoJEv5izs1QAAAAk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
OS/2 has had a long and sometimes troubled history, which The Register [1]looked at in depth when the OS turned 25 . IBM stopped selling OS/2 Warp back in [2]the early part of this century , but that wasn't the end of the line for this indomitable OS.
After IBM stopped selling even the server version, [3]eComStation continued support , and later offered their own updated version, and had [4]plans for further modernization .
After that, Arca Noae [5]picked up the baton with what was originally codenamed Blue Lion . It went on to [6]offer it for sale as Arca OS 5 .
The current version, Arca OS 5.0.7, can boot directly and install from a USB key, which is a first for the OS/2 family – and a significant help.
[7]
On 64-bit hardware, Arca OS can use PAE to turn memory over 4GB into a large, very fast RAMdisk. Version 5.1 is currently in beta testing, and will support installation on UEFI-only machines and onto GPT disks – meaning that it can support media over 2TB in size.
[8]
For Retro Tech Week, The Reg FOSS desk spoke with Rosenthal about what the company was doing with OS/2 today. He told us about what Arca Noae had to do in order to allow this 32-bit OS to install and run on current-generation hardware, including modern browsers, Open Office, Samba for SMB networking over TCP/IP, and more.
He also told us about what kind of customers need Arca OS today, and how useful it can be to DOS and 16-bit Windows software directly on modern hardware. ®
Get our [9]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2012/11/27/the_os_wars_os2_25years_old/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2002/12/17/so_farewell_then_os/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2005/07/15/os2_dead_again/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2015/09/14/world_finally_ready_for_usbbootable_os2/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2015/09/14/world_finally_ready_for_usbbootable_os2/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2017/05/19/new_version_of_os_2_arca_os_5/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y8nLo@xl-ZFhoJEv5izs1QAAAAk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y8nLo@xl-ZFhoJEv5izs1QAAAAk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Did they ever fix the ctrl alt del reboot thing?
That was annoying as hell.