eComStation OS/2 1.1-RC1 R5 is now available for subscribers and selected beta testers to be downloaded from the site’s ftp server. There is at least one more RC to be expected before final release.
eCS 1.1RC1 R5 Available for Subscribers and Beta Testers
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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Good! I am glad to see this OS hitting the headlines and moving forward. I look at it as the ONLY alternative to Windows. It is ceratainly easier to use and do thing then Linux. Also easier to understand for users who have never tried Linux/Unix because this one has drive letters and yes the mount /dev/hda1… etc IS more flexible but the drive letter approach is easier to understand for new users. In this case I don’t think eComStation had a choice however hehe since OS/2 uses drive letters. Finally something new that works and looks like Windows. Good going eComStation folks!
How much software will actually run on this besides what comes with it though? I mean virtually no software exists for OS/2 anymore. And it won’t run Windows applications newer than 3.1.
Do you have any proof that C: is easier to understand than hda1? Usability studies? Experiments on lab rats (also known as computer-ignorant family members)? Something of that sort? Well, at least with hda1, you would know it is definately a hard disk (unlike with drives with letters, from the terminal, could you differciate a hard disk from, for example, a CD-ROM drive on another machine you don’t know without typing in a command?).
How is it a good thing that something ‘works and looks like Windows’?
Do you have any proof that C: is easier to understand than hda1?
And do you have any proof, documents stating and proving that the hda approach is easier?
You want prove? I BET users new to Linux when they first use the OS, the first question is “how do I access my floppy disk drive” What?? I need to type mount /dev/fp0 /mnt/soemdir ….ummm what the hell is all this typing?? And you say this is easier then simply typing A:? and C:, D:?
How much software will actually run on this besides what comes with it though?
There is am OS/2 web site that promotes only OS/2 software. I forgot the URL but I remember looking at one. Just like download.com this web site provides software but all for OS/2
[i]How is it a good thing that something ‘works and looks like Windows’?[i]
No I don’t think it works like Windows from underneath but you have drive letters and DLLs and click+run setup tools. That’s what my point was. The ease of use reminds me to the one in Windows.
I believe the learning curve for Ecomstation is easier than linux. Command line is similar to Windows. Its pretty straight forword. Although I would not say its better than linux. I am testing 1.1 right now and its a nice improvement over ibms current os/2 version. Tthe installer is great! Serenity deserves a big pat on the back for the installer. But current java support is lacking.
http://en.ecomstation.ru/apecs.php
Has an application list with updated applications. No applications are a long Os/2 myth. Except for the gaming area. No Games
For the commercial, as opposed to the hobbyist side of things, try:
http://os2.mensys.nl or http://www.bluesoft.se/html/os2ecs.html
amongst others.
stop being such a dick head. Any modern distribution already has icons on the desktop that will automate the mount process. Want to unmount? easy, right click on the icon then click unmount. Same bloody process used by BeOS since I first started using it (BeOS R4).
Secondly, if you are running FreeBSD and as a result you can’t mount the device as user then simply enter into root, and type mount /floppy. If the /etc/fstab has been setup correctly the mounting should be any easy task.
“Has an application list with updated applications. No applications are a long Os/2 myth. Except for the gaming area. No Games”
And no MS Office… And no WordPerfect Office… And no Lotus Smartsuite since 3 or 4 years ago… And no Netscape since version 3… And no recent JDK… And no Opera since version 5, with no new versions of Opera for OS/2 likely… And no OpenOffice… And No Borland JBuilder since version 5. (Windows and Linux are on version 8)…
How many commercial software developers are still developing for OS/2? Almost none. The ones that still produce OS/2 versions of their apps are usually putting out anchient versions that haven’t been updated in years.
Lotus released version 1.71 two months ago. Innotek & golden code are releasing jdk 1.4 soon. Opera 7 is being worked on.
Open watcom C++ RC2 was just released. Commecial developers hmm let’s see Stalker software makers of communigate pro, Symantec Norton Antivirus, Norman anti-virus, CDI data strategies-backagain/2000,Connectix Virtual PC,RSJ-RSJ Cdwriter software,Sundial Systems-Junkspy,Pillarsoft- Pillarsoft Suite,Starfire Titan Network Computing manager,
Do I need to go on I can list more commecial software developer still developing. These are just a few. Just no games.
>>What?? I need to type mount /dev/fp0 /mnt/soemdir
Welcome to 2003. How was your coma? In all the distros I’ve installed, I’ve never had to type anything to access the floppy drive. Maybe you tried linux once five years ago.
“Opera 7 is being worked on.”
The latest version is 5.12. I see no evidence on Opera’s web site that version 7 is being worked on. There isn’t even a beta. It doens’t make good business sense for Opera to support OS/2. They are probably going to drop their Mac port. What makes you think they will keep OS/2 around? When it has a far smaller user base than Mac?
“Open watcom C++ RC2 was just released.”
That’s great. But the average user doesn’t want to have to write their own word processor in C++ before they can actually start working.
“CDI data strategies-backagain/2000,Connectix Virtual PC,RSJ-RSJ Cdwriter software,Sundial Systems-Junkspy,Pillarsoft- Pillarsoft Suite,Starfire Titan Network Computing manager”
Most of which the average user will have no interest in. most of these are nitch market products.
Where are the mainstream applications? They don’t exist anymore. The OS/2 userbase is simply too small to support them. Face it. OS/2 lost the battle for the desktop many years ago. It’s a dead horse. OS/2 didn’t lose because it was inferior (it is superior to Windows). It lost because IBM couldn’t market water to a man stranded in the Sahara desert.
As I said. Lotus Smartsuite version 1.71 was just released 2 months ago.
“As I said. Lotus Smartsuite version 1.71 was just released 2 months ago.”
Well, for one, Lotus SmartSuite is a user interface nightmare. It’s UI is horribly designed. Especially the WordPro and Freelance Graphics UI.
And also, I sure hope the versions aren’t running concurrently with the Windows versions. Because SmartSuite for Windows is on version 9.5.
“Well, for one, Lotus SmartSuite is a user interface nightmare. It’s UI is horribly designed. Especially the WordPro and Freelance Graphics UI. ”
I don’t know where you get that its user interface is a night mare. It does it’s job. And its supported. And no the versions on not concurrently with Windows.
The newest version of Opera is being ported by the same people who did 5. Opera itself “did not!” do the port of 5.
” I don’t know where you get that its user interface is a night mare. It does it’s job. And its supported. And no the versions on not concurrently with Windows.”
Try using the spell checker in Lotus SmartSuite 9.5 and then tell me it isn’t a UI disaster. Well you are at it, create a multimedia presentation in Freelance and then try to tell me it isn’t infinitely easier in PowerPoint.
Or better yet, do a usability test with someone who has never used either. Bet they will have their presentation finished in PowerPoint before they have even figured out how to change the slide design in Freelance Graphics.
Lotus has a history of bad UI design. Things are not logically where you would expect to find them and so on. Back in the days when I worked corporate tech support, we took more calls on Lotus Notes than any other app we had. People couldn’t even figure out how to do simple things in Lotus Notes. Lotus UIs are truely horrible.