Tips on working with OS/2 Desktop

By Fred Gerlach (7/13/1997)

This section of my page will be devoted to tips on working with the OS/2 desktop. Some of these tips will be more or less common sense tips on making your desktop more productive, and other tips will suggest ways to exploit the power of the OS/2 Workplace Shell to help provide a more effective work environment.



No, it is usually not quite this uncluttered :-)

Click on the image to see it at 1024x768 Low Resolution Desktop, click to view at full size (Jpeg format) hr1.gif - 1.9 K Here are a few tips on setting up and working with the OS/2 desktop which I keep in mind on all of my OS/2 installations.

I do mention several specific products below, please do not consider these to be endorsements, they are just utilities that I use on my installations. You are free to (encouraged in fact) to look for other options that fit your needs.
 * Keep it simple. By this, I mean that you should have your main desktop as uncluttered as possible. IBM has taken steps in this direction with Warp 4 by only leaving a few icons on the desktop after install. There are other ways that make it easier to access the applications that you use. Some of them are included with OS/2
 * Use the WarpCenter and the toolbar, and other similar tools. Why would you want to spend time opening and closing folders to get to your applications? IBM included the WC and the toolbar to make life easier, take advantage of these tools, they make it much easier to get to your applications quickly.
 * Use Dark and Dull colors for backgrounds. Using bright colors for window backgrounds and fonts is a quick route to eyestrain. Darker colors are the best choice if you spend long periods of time in front of your monitor. Using the brightest possible choices for fonts can also be a contributing factor to eyestrain. Choose something that is easily visible with your background color, but not too strong for comfortable use.
 * Use as high a resolution and as low a font size as you are comfortable. I run out of room very quicky when I have several applications running and I need to look at all of them for reference data. Unfortunately, this is not a problem that is easily escaped. I am limited to a 1024x768 desktop most of the time, but small fonts help to give me a little more room to work in. If your video driver supports it, you can change OS/2's default system font to another (smaller size). Hopefully IBM will add this capability (and fix some minor cosmetic glitches associated with this) to the operating system itself in the future.
 * Use Virtual Desktops. There are many vendors offering products that offer "Virtual Desktop" environments. I personally use Stardock's Object Desktop, but all utilities with this feature make it easy to drag applications to their own desktop, where they are only a click away.
 * Close Windows and folders that you are not using. If you have to open a folder to get to another one, then close the folders. Lots of open folders clutters things up and eventually hurts performance.
 * Make Backups! If you've spent time working to get your desktop set up exactly the way that you like it, then it is vital to make a backup of it in case your ini files are corrupted or any of a dozen other mishaps happen. With a backup, you can have your desktop back, exactly as you want it in no time at all.

OS/2 Warp v4 WarpCenter enhancements
To make the clock on the warpcenter look more attractive, add the following line to your config.sys with a text editor

SET SCUSEPRETTYCLOCK=ON

Add the following command to your config.sys to enable a process killer function on the warp center. To use the process killer function, hold down the CTRL key while clicking the Left mouse button on the window list icon on the warpcenter. While not as powerful as a dedicated process control utility, this little function can be a life-saver.

SET KILLFEATUREENABLED=ON

Useful Links

 * The Unofficial WPS Information Site
 * Valuable information about OS/2's WorkPlace Shell


 * Stardock Systems
 * Producers of Object Desktop and Object Desktop Pro, very popular additions to the OS/2 Workplace Shell