85 Good Points of Comparison Between Win95 and OS/2 Warp 4.0

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The following information is aimed both at new computer users and power users/developers alike. I try to make relevant points, take technical issues, and explain them in a way that almost any computer user can understand.

Technically OS/2 is more a match for WinNT (WinNT having been created using 16-bit OS/2 code after Microsoft left the OS/2 project in 1991--before IBM turned it into a powerful 32-bit multithreaded OS), but as an end user myself, I have chosen to compare the relatively low-cost OS/2 Warp 4.0 client to the likewise low-cost Win95 client than to the greater-cost WinNT Workstation client. Perhaps an OS comparison of Warp 4 and NT4 will follow if there is demand from my visitors.

SOFTWARE COMPATIBILITY AND RELATED ISSUES
TEST CRITERIA WIN 95 WARP 4 COMMENTS
Supports DOS programs Yes Yes Win95 is based on the DOS 7.x core much as Win3.1 was based on the DOS core. OS/2 can run its own provided MDOS or can run DOS as already installed on your system.
Supports Win16 programs Yes Yes OS/2 can run Windows 3.x by itself or integrated with the OS/2 Workplace Shell (desktop).
Win16 device driver support Yes Yes Under Win95, Windows 3.x communications drivers must be re-written.
Rewrites your current Win16 apps so they can never again be used by Windows 3.x Yes No Win95 creatively makes you think you're getting more power from your Win16 programs by rewriting some of their code. The resulting programs cannot be run again on a Win3.1 system without being reinstalled.
Supports all Win32 programs (those written specifically for Windows NT) No No Some applications are written with code that requires certain functions of Windows NT which are not available even in Win95.
Supports some Win32 programs (those written specifically for Windows NT) Yes Yes1 Win95 has some support for 32-bit Windows applications. 1OS/2 Warp 4 supports about 800 of the most common Win32 API function calls in what is known as Open32, a system to allow easy porting of Win32 applications to OS/2. So OS/2 does not directly run Win32 programs, but they can be cross-compiled with a minimum of effort.
Supports Win32s programs (a subset of Win32 which runs under Windows 3.x with Win32s "emulation") Yes Yes Win95 supports Win32s becuase it supports Win16 and Win32 (Win32s is a subset of Win32 which runs on Windows 3.1x though a sort of emulation). OS/2 can run Windows by itself or integrated with the OS/2 Workplace Shell (desktop).Both offer Win32s support at least through Win32s 1.25a.
Supports 16-bit OS/2 programs No Yes OS/2 fully supports 16-bit OS/2 apps from the command line and from the desktop (when applicable) as well.
Supports 32-bit OS/2 programs No Yes OS/2 fully supports 32-bit OS/2 applications from either the command line or the desktop.
Some Microsoft apps are specifically written to not install/function fully when this OS is detected No Yes One of many obvious monopolistic practices on the part of Microsoft. For instance, it has been observed that Office95 would not fully install if OS/2 was detected on the system.
IBM software--same question No No And yes, IBM writes software for DOS/Win3.x/Win95/WindowsNT as well).
Built-in MPEG animation support Yes Yes Industry-standard for video and audio.
Built-in Autodesk animation support (FLI & FLC) No Yes An industry standard for video.
Video and audio synch manager No Yes Keeps video and audio in synchronization while playing.
Built-in Photo CD support No Yes Photo CDs are different from audio or CD-ROM discs. Only Warp has built-in capability to read them.
Has thousands of native 32-bit apps Yes Yes OS/2 has been a 32-bit operating system since 1992 so has had several more years to develop a base of 32-bit native applications than Win95, which has only truly forged ahead into the world of 32-bit applications in the past year or so. Many of the early "made for Win95" applications were shown to be 16-bit apps with 32-bit installers, but as with everything this has come to pass.
Has numerous big-name developers such as IBM, Lotus, and Netscape Yes Yes Such products as IBM Anti-Virus, Netscape Navigator, StarDivision StarOffice and Lotus Smartsuite are made for both platforms, plus Corel, WordPerfect Corp. Microsoft and others have developed for OS/2 over the years.
Viruses are common with this OS Yes No Since most people currently use DOS and Windows, most viruses are written to attack these operating systems. There are currently believed to be no viruses that can affect OS/2's HPFS formatting, though viruses that attack the FAT formatting can harm OS/2 if it is resident on a FAT partition.
Built-in support for True-Type fonts Yes Yes These are the fonts many people already have from Windows 3.x.
Built-in support for Adobe Type 1 fonts Yes Yes This is a widely used font format found on OS/2, MacOS, Win95, etc.
Anti-aliased display fonts Yes No Anti-aliasing makes display fonts (those shown on the screen) appear smooth. Under OS/2, display fonts can be jagged. This has no effect on printed fonts.
Includes VoiceType Dictation and Navigation software No Yes VoiceType allows you to open/close/move documents, cruise the internet, and dictate (rather than type) papers and such, all with voice commands which are more than 90% accurate.
Supports OpenGL, a cross-platform 3D animation standard Yes Yes OpenGL is a cross-platform 3D animation standard already in place on OS/2, Windows 95/NT, many releases of UNIX, and I believe also Macintosh.
Supports Direct Interface to Video Extensions No Yes DIVE, as it is often referred to, is a means by which all video memory (or any part of it) can be addressed at any given time, thus allowing greater video speed as well as making it much easier for programmers to design graphics-based applications.
Supports Direct Audio Real Time No Yes DART, as it is often referred to, allows great flexibility for programmers as any portion of an audio file can be directly manipulated and mixed. On the user end, DART allows for multiple sounds to be played simultaneously whereas with the typical MCI (Media Control Interface) sound devices of Windows and OS/2 only a single sound can be playing through a given sound device (like waveaudio) at any given time.
Supports DirectX Yes No DirectX, consisting of such technologies as Direct3D, DirectMPEG, and more, is Microsoft's flavor-of-the-month "standard" for graphics. It is apparently not very good, as John Carmack, the author of Doom and Quake, has been quoted as saying "Direct3D IM (Immediate Mode) is a horribly broken API. It inflicts great pain and suffering on the programmers using it, without returning any significant advantages. I don't think there is any market segment that D3D is appropriate for." -- source Computer Shopper, April 1997, page 559
Has built-in support for Sun Microsystems' Java No Yes Java is a cross-platform standard for, mainly, internet programming and usage thereof. Win95 can support this, but I have not heard that Java is built-into it.
Has built-in support for OpenDoc, an extensive cross-platform object-oriented standard. No Yes Win95 uses ActiveX object technology, a spinoff of Microsoft's earlier OLE standard. ActiveX is currently supported ONLY on Windows systems because Microsoft is the sole owner of the technology.
Relies upon the old DOS 8.3 file naming scheme for associations between files and the apps that run them Yes No With OS/2, the file type (such as bitmap or word processor) is saved as an extended attribute to each file, thus the old 3 character extension is no longer necessary for the OS to determine a file's type.
TECHNICAL DIFFERENCES (PROCESSING AND SUCH)
TEST CRITERIA WIN 95 WARP 4 COMMENTS
Year 2000 Compliant No Yes With the recent free Fixpack 4 for OS/2 Warp 4, the few parts of the base operating system which needed to be made year 2000 compliant were fixed. Win95's DOS base is very far from year 2000 compliance and a great number of applications built for it and included with it will have difficulties come January 1, 2000 unless millions of lines of code are rewritten by then. Don't hold your breath, as Microsoft have a tendency to prefer you to pay for fixes to bugs they shouldn't have put into the software in the first place.
Effectively multitasks 32-bit software (preemptive multitasking) Yes Yes Preemptive multitasking allows programs to operate at various levels at the same time, unlike Windows 3.x's cooperative multitasking in which each process had complete control of the CPU and had to cooperate with the other processes in giving up processor time for them to run.
Runs 32-bit multi-threaded apps equally well from the command line as from the desktop No Yes Win95 cannot run 32-bit multi-threaded applications from its 16-bit DOS command line unless the GUI (Graphical User Interface) is running. This makes running the 32-bit version of InfoZip and Unzip useless for emergency situations when you cannot boot the GUI. OS/2's command line is the basis of its 32-bit multithreaded power. The 32-bit InfoZip and Unzip for OS/2 run perfectly well regardless of whether the GUI has been loaded.
Effectively multitasks 16-bit software in "virtual machines" No Yes OS/2 allocates a space in 32-bit memory for use by 16-bit applications when said applications need to be run. The OS can then multitask the 32-bit "virtual machine" in which these 16-bit applications are running. (see below for info on "virtual machines")
The presence of a single 16-bit application causes the entire system to revert to the more primitive cooperative multitasking of Windows 3.x Yes No OS/2 multitasks the 16-bit application's 32-bit "virtual machine" and thus can continue operating in preemptive multitasking mode not matter how many 16-bit applications are resident in memory. (see below for info on "virtual machines")
Is merely a halfway point between the company's 16- and 32-bit OSes Yes No OS/2 has been IBM's 32-bit OS since the early 1990s; Win95 came out almost a year late and with far fewer features than were promised, and is not fully 32-bit. Also, Microsoft continually points to WindowsNT as the system for any "serious" applications--signifying that they themselves do not consider Win95 to be a worthwhile operating environment.
Can run DOS in a "virtual machine" (a part of memory set aside solely for that application which makes that app think it's running under normal DOS all on it's own) Yes Yes OS/2 can do this with Windows 3.x apps as well, since they run under DOS.
Can open multiple DOS sessions at once within a single "virtual machine" (unsafe) Yes Yes OS/2 can do this with Windows 3.x apps as well since they run under DOS. This method is only unsafe for the DOS/Win3.x applications, not for the whole OS/2 system which is crash protected.
Can open multiple DOS sessions in separate "virtual machines" so that if one crashes they don't all crash (safe) No Yes OS/2 can do this with Windows 3.x apps as well since they run under DOS.
Runs Java in a Virtaul Machine Yes Yes As with the Virtual DOS Machines, running Java in a VM ensures system stability if a Java application should fail or otherwise go awry. OS/2 is the first mainstream operating system to run Java in this fashion. There are now several versions of the JVM for Win95/NT, from Microsoft, from Netscape, and from Sun, but all require additional software (Win95 has no out-of-the-box support for JVM).
Can open multiple OS/2 command line sessions at a time No Yes Win95 cannot run OS/2 sessions.
32-bit window management No Yes In Win95, USER.EXE is 16-bit non-reentrant code, which means that any call to it will be handled in the old Windows 3.x fashion of first come first serve, and that either only one copy can be resident in memory at any given time or in order for additional copies to be resident in memory each must be loaded in its entirety (this slows down the loading and also decreases available memory.
32-bit graphics subsystem No Yes In Win95 approximately 50% of Graphics Device Interface calls are still handled by 16-bit non-reentrant code, which means that those calls must be handled one at a time in the order in which they are made. also this means that video memory must be dealt with in 64KB chunks--a nightmare for programmers. OS/2 allows all video memory to be addressed at once, which greatly frees up programmers to worry about other things.
32-bit memory subsystem No Yes OS/2 can directly access up to 2 gigabytes of RAM, thus eliminating the 640KB limit of DOS. Win95 still runs on DOS, although they try to hide it behind pretty cloud pictures, and thus all real-mode portions of Win95 are still limited to 640KB of RAM.
32-bit disk subsystem Yes2 Yes Multithreaded applications can start a thread to read/write information to the disk and quickly return control to the user. Also includes efficient disk/file caches. Further, this includes 32-bit addressing of disk locations which allows for partition sizes in the realm of 2 terabytes. 2Win95b (OSR2) includes FAT32 for 32-bit addressing of disk locations, but Win95b is not available off-the-shelf, so most copies of Win95 still have 16-bit addressing with FAT16.
32-bit printing subsystem for increased speed and productivity No Yes Multithreaded applications can start a thread to print a document and quickly return control to the user. The printing can be done while other operations take place.
Non-locking input queue No Yes Under OS/2, if the input queue hangs, there is a built-in utility which will unlock it so the system will continue to respond to you.
DISK / FILE STORAGE OPTIONS
TEST CRITERIA WIN 95 WARP 4 COMMENTS
Supports FAT16 file system Yes Yes The FAT16 is the disk file system used by DOS and thus Windows3.1 and 95.
Supports High Performance File System (HPFS) No Yes HPFS is what is known as an Installable File System (IFS). This means the file system is installed at boot rather than being built into the OS such as FAT16 is built into DOS. Windows NT's NTFS is another example of an IFS.
File System is resistant to fragmentation No Yes HPFS is highly resistant to fragmentation, which is a very common problem on FAT drives. This is partially due to the use of 512 byte sectors regardless of partition size in HPFS rather than clusters of varying size dependant upon the size of the partition in FAT. This sector setup also means you don't waste as much disk space if a file only uses up a few bytes (like a .bat or readme.1st file).
Safe long filename support No Yes OS/2 directly supports long filenames (up to 254 characters with spaces and/or non-alphanumeric characters) on HPFS drives. On a FAT drive, OS/2 stores long filenames in a safe hidden file which it accesses as needed.Win95's long filename support is a hack on the FAT filesystem in which multiple FAT entries are used to store a long filename which can only be accessed while the GUI is running. This way of storing long filenames is unsafe as it is easy for parts of the long filename to get lost, and exchanging files with users of any other OS will more likely than not destroy the long filename outright.
With proper drivers, can support Installable File Systems other than HPFS No Yes With the proper drivers, OS/2 Warp can utilize any IFS partition.
SYSTEM BOOT-UP OPTIONS
TEST CRITERIA WIN 95 WARP 4 COMMENTS
Still relies on CONFIG.SYS for setting environment variables, loading device drivers, etc Yes Yes Since Win95 is still just a shell on top of DOS (as was Win3.1) it still loads CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT on bootup but hides it behind a pretty cloud picture (and there's no mention of the fact in the documentation). OS/2 uses a CONFIG.SYS file as well (carry over from it's 16-bit days as the successor to DOS) but IBM makes no claims that the file does not exist.
Included Dual Boot allows multiple OSes to reside on and be booted from the same hard drive partition No Yes OS/2's Dual Boot allows OS/2 to reside n the same FAT16 partition as DOS, and thus Windows and Win95, and lets you choose which to boot into on your next system startup. I do not consider Win95's ability to boot between its own DOS 7.x and an existing DOS 6.xx on your system to be dual boot, it's more like using different config files, which OS/2 can also do.
Included Boot Manager allows multiple OSes to reside on the same system and allows you to choose which to load at system boot No Yes Boot Manager allows booting to any partition (primary or logical) which contains a bootable OS. Thus DOS, OS/2, and Linux can reside on the same system, each with their own file system, with no possibility of bad interaction.
Can reside on and be booted from any partition on any HDD in your system No Yes For Win95, most of the operating system can exist on any FAT partition in your system, but the system files must be loaded from the first primary partition.
GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE (GUI) SPECIFICS
TEST CRITERIA WIN 95 WARP 4 COMMENTS
Drag & drop faxing Yes Yes Both allow dragging and dropping of files to the fax desktop object.
Drag & drop printing Yes Yes Just as with faxing, sending a file to the printer in either Warp or Win95 can be done with a simple drag and drop to the desktop object for the printer.
Drag & drop deletion Yes Yes In OS/2 Warp, dragging a file to the shredder will delete it, while the default in Win95 is to save the "deleted" files in a hidden directory/folder. However, Win95 can be set up to delete without saving to this folder.
Can save deleted files for undeletion Yes Yes In case you accidentally delete a file and want to undelete it later, Win95 defaults to saving all deleted files to a folder. OS/2 can be made to do this as well, by going into config.sys and removing the REM in front of the SET DELDIR= statement. Also you could just create a folder and drag files into it and then delete the folder whenever you like.
Drag & drop access paths (also known as object tracking) No Yes In OS/2, if you change the execution path of a file (that is, drag the file's object to a new directory or move it there from the command line) OS/2 will make note and the program object and all desktop shadows (similar to shortcuts) will still work when double-clicked. Win95's shortcuts still rely on the long outdated DOS file tree structure and .INI files and thus cannot make these kinds of changes. If, for instance, you delete an .EXE file, any shortcuts that pointed to that file must search the drive to find the closest match, even though the file no longer exists.
Object templates No Yes Warp includes templates of major object types for quick and easy creation of desktop objects for any file.
Uses Settings Notebooks for every desktop object to allow for great control over useage No Yes In OS/2's Workplace Shell (WPS) every object has a notebook where you can define aspects of its use, it's icon, it's session settings if it's a DOS-OS/2 or WinOS/2 program, its sorting method if it's a folder, and so forth. You can use the default values or, if you're a more high-end user, you can easily modify any or all settings for each and every application and file on your system with a consisten interface.
Complete customizability (of look/feel) No Yes OS/2's GUI is customizable in almost every way. Every single window can have its own font; icon size, style, placement; font style, color, size; and window positions are stored. Almost all options in Windows 95 are "universal" and apply to all windows and GUI elements.
Built in image translator and thumbnail viewer No Yes With Warp 4, multimedia files, including still-frame images and animations/video clips, are automatically given relevant thumbnails as desktop icons. From the thumbnail, you can make a simple right-click and convert it to another format, view the image, or translate it to greyscale. Basic image editing functionality out of the box. Additonal graphic, audio, and multimedia formats can be added to the capabilities as universal OS "plug-ins"--Everything that uses the Multimedia subsystem aquires the ability to load the new format.
BUNDLED / FREELY DOWNLOADABLE SOFTWARE
TEST CRITERIA WIN 95 WARP 4 COMMENTS
Built-in TCP/IP for (inter)net-working Yes Yes Both are 16-bit "thunked" to a 32-bit memory address. This means the CPU handles them as 32-bit apps, but they interface with the OS on a 16-bit level.
Comes bundled with full-fledged 32-bit works software (spreadsheet, database, word processing, memo notes, etc.) No Yes OS/2 comes with a BonusPak which includes internet applications, IBMWorks, video editing software, Compuserve Information Manager, System Information Tool, etc.
Comes bundled with 32-bit internet productivity software (gopher, FTP, automatic updater for revisions to the included TCP/IP stack and software, etc) No Yes Under OS/2, by connecting to your online service and clicking Retrieve Software Updates, you can selectively download updates to the networking software which will then automatically install & configure themselves.
Comes bundled with 32-bit internet server software (FTPd, Telnetd, HTTPd, etc) No Yes OS/2 Warp 4 includes a number of internet server programs to allow you to very quickly and easily set up an internet server on your own PC.
Has widely available FREE downloads to fix any noted bugs or inconsistencies No Yes The OS/2 Warp Fixpacks are available from a number of internet sites for free. Also, IBM continues to support versions of OS/2 which are no longer sold. In late 1996 they released a new fixpack for users of OS/2 v2.11, which has not been made since 1994. They are committed to maintaining their past and current customers, unlike Microsoft which will no longer deal with Windows For Workgroup 3.11 or below and certainly does not provide free fixes.
Comes bundled with a 2nd CD-ROM of shareware, freeware, and demonstrations software No Yes OS/2 Warp 4 comes on 1 CD-ROM, with a second CD of device drivers, a third CD with Lotus NotesMail, and a fourth CD of native OS/2 demos/freeware/shareware.
Has the ability to automatically install entire system fixpacks downloaded via the internet No Yes In addition to the older Retrieve Software Updates tool which downloaded and installed internet applications automatically, a new tool enhances WebExplorer and/or Netscape Navigator for OS/2 so that the freely available fixpacks which enhance/replace/add to the base system files may be downloaded and auto-installed.
Includes a selection of games Yes Yes Win95 includes 3 standard 16-bit games: Minesweeper, solitaire, and hearts, and 2 32-bit games--Freecell and Hover. Warp includes 3 32-bit games: solitaire, chess, and mahjongg, as well as the 3 16-bit Windows games thanks to the included WinOS/2 software.
Includes a powerful scripting language No Yes OS/2 Warp comes with the REXX scripting language which is much like a cross between BASIC and C. It's both a batch language and a programming language in which whole applications can be developed.
MISCELLANEOUS
TEST CRITERIA WIN 95 WARP 4 COMMENTS
The released product is the product that was promised and/or advertised No Yes Win95 was promised to be so many things that either did not come to light or were not available in the shipping version. To get these, one had to purchase The PlusPak and/or download updates via the internet. [winflop.shtml#Here's Click here for more information on the false advertising of Windows 95].
Has a history of stability which make it widely accepted among mission-critical institutions such as banks and government agencies No Yes OS/2 has been used for ATM and other highly important business machines since it's 16-bit inception in 1987 (even then it was more stable than DOS and was proclaimed by Microsoft to be the logical successor to DOS). OS/2 is currently in use by 20 of the 30 top banking corporations in the United States and has been accepted by several more worldwide [os2facts.shtml Click here for more information on OS/2's usage in banks].
Crash protection No Yes OS/2 does not allow applications to overwite other applications memory space, which greatly increases stability. Win95 has many problems in this area.
Plug and Play Yes Yes Plug and Play is not perfect under Win95 and not all expansion cards support it. Ever notice how you still have driver disks for most plug 'n play devices? Hmm... Warp 4 supports some Win95 PnP devices, and even Warp 3 recognized my non-PnP video card right off, which tells me that having PnP devices is not all that necessary. My PnP soundcard works just fine under Warp 3.
Benefits greatly from the presence of a Pentium Pro/Pentium II, 6x86MX, or K6 processor as opposed to a Pentium, 6x86, or K5 No Yes While both Win95 and OS/2 Warp are a mix of 16- and 32-bit code, OS/2 has considerably less 16-bit code than Win95 (and decreasing all the time as IBM releases 32-bit updates to drivers in their free fixpacks), and all of it is "thunked" to a 32-bit memory address space. Thus it benefits more from a 32-bit optimized Pentium Pro/Pentium II, Cyrix 6x86MX, or AMD K6 than does Win95.
Formed the basis for WindowsNT No Yes In the early days of OS/2, Microsoft and IBM worked together to create this logical successor to DOS. After Microsoft abandoned the project, they took what they had learned from IBM and created WindowsNT. IBM then went on to make OS/2 a fully-functional 32-bit OS (Microsoft dropped out when OS/2 was still 16-bit).
Properly identifies the Cyrix 6x86 CPU out-of-the-box No Yes Win95 identifies the 6x86 as a 486 unless you install the latest service pack. OS/2 Warp 4 properly identifies this Pentium-class CPU with no outside assistance.
The most common reason for updating on this platform comes usually as a complaint Yes No Many users of Win 3.x used the following argument to explain why they were upgrading to Win95: "Well everyone else is going to have it, so I have to have it too just to be compatible." That doesn't sound to me like the company who makes the product is too concerned about its past and current users. nor does it sound like the system is one that people look forward to upgrading to. The most common reason I've heard for upgrading on the OS/2 platform is: "It's faster, it's more stable, it includes features I'll actually use, and it just works better."
Has wide media acceptance and support from thousands of software and hardware manufacturers Yes No In the earlier days of Windows, MS used pressure tactics and financial incentives to lure developers to their platform. This, however, says nothing good for the power of Windows. Now most developers feel trapped and unable to develop off the Windows platform, even though Microsoft keeps changing the rules of the game. Note, however, that OS/2 does have numerous supporters who are quite capable of developing quality applications (Lotus, IBM, Stardock, Netscape, and GammaTech just to name a few).
The C library Application Programming Interface (API) has a unified system of labeling No Yes In OS/2, related functions have a prefix, WinCreateWindow, GPS, VioSetMode, VioGetMode, etc. The Windows API tends to throw function names around as it sees fit.
Is easy to learn if you're coming from a DOS/Win background Yes Yes OS/2 was originally created to be the successor to DOS and as such has a number of similarities at the command line level (including similar commands and command structure). Further, since it was OS/2 that led to the development sof WindowsNT and thus Win95, use of the GUI is also fairly similar, though of course, as noted above in the GUI section of this table, OS/2 has many times the technical power of the Win95/NT desktop.
Improperly supports existing networking protocols and thus is subject to problems such as the Out-of-Bounds error (WinNuke), SSPing, and Teardrop Yes No OS/2 properly supports the TCP/IP (inter)networking protocol and thus is not subject to the Out-of-Bounds error (WinNuke for instance), SSPing, or Teardrop attacks which plague both Win95 and WinNT.