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Thinking of switching to OS/2 - apps advice pls?

Started by Nebpehtira, 2010.04.03, 13:30:16

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Nebpehtira

Hi,

I'm not a huge fan of Windows, and am considering installing an old copy of OS/2 W4 I have from years back. However, I am not sure what the application scene is like these days, so would appreciate some heads up to see if it's feasible. I find Linux is a no-no as it actually adds complexities rather than takes them away. I have a moderate interest in IT, but mostly I want something that works simply, cleanly, and puts the minimum load on my system, to make it as responsive as possible.

Word Processors: I'm a student and need to swap files with others in campus. The commonly used format is the Word 97/2000 DOC format, so I need support for that format. Other than that, a decent template function, a good spell checker (ideally mark-as-you-type MS Word style), good text manipulation for footnotes, different paragraph formats and positioning of texts and embedded objects, and a very simple interface are important. One thing I don't like about Windows and it's modern applications are too much clutter whilst ignoring the basics. I used to use Lotus Write 2.0 years ago, and liked it's design.

Jsesh: I know some Windows programs can run under OS/2 and one I really need to keep in Jsesh. Does anyone know if it runs? It makes extensive use of Java. http://jsesh.qenherkhopeshef.org/

PDF: I need a PDF reader with good text search/find facilities.

Image editor: An image editor for basic photo editing and also working with scanned diagrams, maps and documents.

Development tools: I ave a long term project to develop a modest web database project, so any simple tools that let me work on this easily would be excellent.

DougB

QuoteI'm not a huge fan of Windows

You seem to be in the right place...

Quoteand am considering installing an old copy of OS/2 W4

EComstation http://www.ecomstation.com/ would probably be a better option. Warp4 is quite old, and it can prove to be a bit of a challenge to get it to work on newer hardware, but it can, usually, be done. Be sure to research the restrictions. Start by posting the description of the machine that you intend to use, so we can comment on any potential problems.

QuoteWord Processors:

OpenOffice is available. There is an older version (2.02) at HOBBES http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/ (home of most things OS/2). You can also get a customized version 2.4, or 3.1.1, from Mensys that adds some specific OS/2 support, but they charge for that.

Lotus Smartsuite may still be available too, but there are a lot of them at HOBBES, that are free, and may be more to your liking.

QuoteJsesh:

I downloaded, and installed, with no trouble. It seems to work, but I don't know if everything will work.

QuotePDF:

Acrobat Reader 5.0 is available, but is out of date. We also have Lucide, which seems to handle most things properly. It is still under development, so any problems might get fixed, if you supply the information to the authors.

QuoteImage editor:

Here you have a pretty good choice. It depends a lot on exactly what you want to do, but there are a few excellent native programs, as well as a number of JAVA programs, that can be used.

QuoteDevelopment tools:

In OS/2 this generally refers to programming tools."Web tools" could be more descriptive. Again, it depends on what you want to do. Simple web sites can be developed using a text editor, or one of the more advanced editors such as NVU, or Komposer. There are also even more advanced things like SQL and web publishing tools.

miturbide

I recommend you not to use Warp 4 since it is out of date and it requires to do a lot of patching.

If you can get it, I recommend you to get at least Warp 4.52 (april 2002) or if you are installing on newer hardware get eComStation 2.0 RC7 (2009), since those are more updated.

Regards
Martín Itúrbide
OS2World.com NewsMaster
Open Source Advocate

Skype - martiniturbide
Google Talk - martiniturbide@gmail.com

Nebpehtira

Quote from: DougB on 2010.04.03, 18:39:20
EComstation http://www.ecomstation.com/ would probably be a better option. Warp4 is quite old, and it can prove to be a bit of a challenge to get it to work on newer hardware, but it can, usually, be done. Be sure to research the restrictions. Start by posting the description of the machine that you intend to use, so we can comment on any potential problems.

I am considering ECS, but really wanted to try out the OS first and see if I get on with it. Also the cost is an issue, as I already have Warp CDs on hand (or rather, in a box on top of my wardrobe... I think!), and don't have a very generous budget. My system is a ThinkPad X60 (nothing fancy done to it except a RAM upgrade to 2gb), so one would hope that it should be "somewhat" compatible. I use a Samsung ML-2850D printer (USB connected mono laser with a duplexer) and a Visioneer OneTouch USB flatbed scanner with it, and a rarely used Freecom USB DVD-RW drive. I do use the built in SD card slot on the X60 a lot (cards up to 2gb), as well as USB sticks between 2gb and 8gb.

Quote
OpenOffice is available.
Lotus Smartsuite may still be available too, but there are a lot of them at HOBBES, that are free, and may be more to your liking.

Looks like there is plenty there to keep me occupied. I wasn't aware there was that much software, so it seems promising, especially if modern software runs OK as well. I did try OpenOffice on Windows, but I found it slow and overblown for what I really wanted (tries too much to be like MS Office, IMHO).

Quote
QuoteJsesh:
I downloaded, and installed, with no trouble. It seems to work, but I don't know if everything will work.

That's the main thing, I was just not sure if it was even possible, as a modern Java app

QuoteAcrobat Reader 5.0 is available, but is out of date. We also have Lucide, which seems to handle most things properly. It is still under development, so any problems might get fixed, if you supply the information to the authors.

Should be fine, mostly it's for for JSTOR articles, so nothing fancy.

QuoteSimple web sites can be developed using a text editor, or one of the more advanced editors such as NVU, or Komposer. There are also even more advanced things like SQL and web publishing tools.

I've been trying to avoid SQL as a distraction to the work I actually want to get online, but looking at the project I have a feeling that at some point I am going to have to take the plunge  ::)

Nebpehtira

Quote from: miturbide on 2010.04.03, 22:19:57
I recommend you not to use Warp 4 since it is out of date and it requires to do a lot of patching.

If you can get it, I recommend you to get at least Warp 4.52 (april 2002) or if you are installing on newer hardware get eComStation 2.0 RC7 (2009), since those are more updated.

Regards

I think the version I have might be 4.52. The hardware is new by my standards (I'm so proud of my X60  ;D) but it's still old by most peoples measure.

DougB

The X60 is, briefly, reviewed at: http://en.ecomstation.ru/hardware.php?action=item&id=1765. Other devices can be reviewed at: http://en.ecomstation.ru/hardware.php. I don't see your specific printer there. If it is PostScript capable, it will probably work. If not, you may have a problem. You will probably not be able to use the SD card slot, although some of them will work. A cheap multi card USB adapter should work though (I use a LEXAR Jumpdrive Trio). The USB sticks may need some special treatment to make them work. Your USB CD burner should work, with the latest drivers (which you may not be able to get, without getting eComStation). I think the scanner may be a problem, although some of them do work.

If you do have Warp 4.52, it will be easier to get it to work than the old warp 4, but I expect that you will still need to do some driver updates to get it to install, and even more (which may not be available), to get it to work properly (especially with USB). Even with those potential problems, I expect that it should work well enough to convince you to update to eComStation. Since you are a student, you would qualify for the student pricing, and since you already have warp 4.52, you would get a discount for that too.

I agree that OpenOffice is trying, very hard, to have more features than MS Office, but it seems to be the only answer when you need to handle documents created by MS Office (especially later versions). I haven't used it enough to really learn much about it, but there are a lot of configuration options that may reduce the clutter.

Modern JAVA apps can be a problem. The latest "official" JAVA for OS/2 is 1.4.2_09-b05, but it is possible to get some things to work with JAVA 1.5.0_07 (some tricks are required to get it installed, and working). Other versions don't want to work. Apparently, there is a newer JAVA under construction, but no word yet about how it is going.

I have used both NVU, and Komposer, to build web pages. They are almost identical, and do a good job, without too much of a learning curve. Both are available for other platforms too. There is a project under way to update Komposer, and I expect that it will be available soon, meanwhile, the older version works well.