Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 27th Dec 2005 15:48 UTC
OS/2 and eComStation Two articles on OS/2: "IBM's farewell to OS/2 next month shouldn't take anyone by surprise. Long before Big Blue announced its plans to pull the plug, industry watchers were drafting OS/2's obituary." And, "Yesterday saw IBM cease the sale of the OS/2 Operating system. Come the 31st of December, standard support for the OS will end also. However, a significant number of companies and people continue to use it, and they are finding ways for OS/2 to live on."
Thread beginning with comment 78661
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Huh?
by Ronald Vos on Tue 27th Dec 2005 16:10 UTC
Ronald Vos
Member since:
2005-07-06

It keeps striking me as odd: people stop using a tried and tested product, and exchange it for Windows. If you stop shipping your ATMs with OS/2, why not put a BSD on it? It would seem that provides a larger profit margin once the initial cost of porting it has been completed.

RE: Huh?
by on Tue 27th Dec 2005 16:39 in reply to "Huh?"
Member since:

You have to understand how corporate America works to understand why ATMs have Winsdows on them...

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 0

RE[2]: Huh?
by puddleglum on Tue 27th Dec 2005 17:18 in reply to "RE: Huh?"
puddleglum Member since:
2005-07-20

You have to understand how corporate America works to understand why ATMs have Winsdows on them...

We understand how corporate America works. It's all cheap $#!+ made in China.

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 0

RE: Huh?
by on Tue 27th Dec 2005 19:43 in reply to "Huh?"
Member since:

It's simple to understand. Developers cost a lot more than software licenses. MS tools allow them to be more productive == lower costs.

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 0

RE[2]: Huh?
by on Tue 27th Dec 2005 21:46 in reply to "RE: Huh?"
Member since:

Actually, Microsoft flooded the market with their development tools, and gave them away in order to lure developers to the Windows platform. IBM was unable to follow suit. Result: fewer native OS/2 applications, resulting in lower demand for the operating system. They're not any easier to use than other devel platforms, especially these days when you have so many Linux tools, also available for free. There are plenty of developers out there who I've seen attest to that fact. The trouble now is that Windows has gained such momentum that it's so difficult to break the stranglehold that things like Visual Studio have on the software market.

You can take off your rose-colored specs now.

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 0

RE[2]: Huh?
by on Wed 28th Dec 2005 11:08 in reply to "RE: Huh?"
Member since:

"It's simple to understand. Developers cost a lot more than software licenses. MS tools allow them to be more productive == lower costs."

But not in the long term.

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 0