Submitted by eComStation 2.0 RC5 is available for download for users with Software Subscriptions Services subscription. For those who don’t know, eComStation is the next evolution of the OS/2 operating system.
eComStation 2.0 RC5 Released
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
Here is the collection of eComStation myths:
http://ecomstation.ru/myths
“1. eComStation is ugly.
eComStation has powerful user interface, object oriented desktop. Users can change colors and icons. Visit the gallery of eComStation screenshots.”
I visited the gallery and it *is* ugly! Throwing some Aqua-like icons and having ugly buttons and weird gradients won’t make anything pretty.
Win9X is more pretty than this actually, at least it looks consistent.
It’s ugly by todays standards, but back when OS/2 was first released, the interface was pretty damn sexy compared to the competition.
Definitively. Even Vista is nicer than those masterpieces of ugliness.
You know the state of the OS hobbyist community has gone downhill when flashy icons and windowing effects make a larger impression than the actual functionality of a desktop.
The WPS is still one of the best when it comes to raw usefulness. A new paint job doesn’t make a desktop any more useful — all it does is make the potholes look pretty.
++
Or as Jean-Louis Gassee put it, “At the risk of sounding ageist, sexist, and French: you can dress Grandma up in a multimedia mini-skirt and take her out to a night club, but that still doesn’t mean she’s going to score.”
An OS that hasn’t really been updated for over 10 years. Virtually no applications. 32 bit only. Very few drivers. Extremely expensive to purchase. What is the point unless you have critical OS/2 software?
You already said it.
Some of us aren’t willing to settle for the creeping ABIs and the maze of constantly morphing desktop paradigms that Linux folks are seemingly willing to put up with? 🙂
I’ve used Linux in parallel with OS/2 since the early 90’s (OS/2 2.0 and SLS 0.99), and there are several reasons why my main desktop is still OS/2. Stability of a desktop installation over time is a huge part of it — I’m sick and tired of having to refresh my base distro every 2-3 years.
Of course, as an existing OS/2 user the fee for an eCS license isn’t that bad. Not that my main desktop runs eCS, mind you. That’s a secondary desktop license for me. My primary is Warp 4 FP 15.
Edited 2008-07-07 17:06 UTC
Personally, I prefer eComstation over Linux. I have tried three recent linux distros, and none of them ( Ubuntu, Fedora, or OpenSuse ) is able to recognize my monitor and configure itself properly. With eComstation this is not a problem. I can’t use linux in its current state.