{"slug": "os-2", "name": "OS/2", "category": "os", "category_name": "Operating systems and desktop", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 8, "warners": 2, "score": 1.147, "rising": -0.98, "first": "2025-11-19", "latest": "2026-10-03", "why": "I found it more useful than Windows 3.1 on the same hardware, because it could reliably run a serial modem download in the background while I did word processing.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 3, "compare": 0, "warn": 3}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I found it more useful than Windows 3.1 on the same hardware, because it could reliably run a serial modem download in the background while I did word processing.", "kind": "", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["OS/2"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 775608032, "item_id": 48475502, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48475502", "by": "NoGravitas", "date": "2026-06-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I found it more useful than Windows 3.1 on the same hardware, because it could reliably run a serial modem download in the background while I did word processing.", "excerpt": "I used a 386sx with 4MB of RAM with OS/2 2.1. It was usable for a lot of things. I certainly used word processors, terminal emulators, and casual games in that config. It did swap something terrible if you pushed it beyond its pretty narrow limits, and unlike Windows 3.1, it had enough promise to encourage you to do so. I found it more useful than Windows 3.1 on the same hardware, because it could reliably run a seri", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop OS on 386sx", "switched_from": "", "story": "GentleOS \u2013 Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI"}, {"id": 775399968, "item_id": 48462498, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48462498", "by": "lproven", "date": "2026-06-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I ran OS/2 2.0 on them both.", "excerpt": "> it's quite a feat to fit this into 4 MB on a 386. I had 2 different Librex 386SX laptops, with 4MB of RAM, on long-term loan from work around 1992. One was quite chunky, the 2nd was a slimline thing with an off-centre hinge. I ran OS/2 2.0 on them both. So I could run multiple DOS apps, and a WinOS2 VM containing Windows 3.0, meaning I could run Win16 apps as well. And native OS/2 apps, although I didn't have many.", "context": "Used OS/2 2.0 on 386SX laptops around 1992", "use_case": "Running DOS and Win16 apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "GentleOS \u2013 Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI"}, {"id": 758360352, "item_id": 47397522, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47397522", "by": "lproven", "date": "2026-03-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "paid for the first couple (2.0 and 2.1) with my own cash", "excerpt": "> They shall learn from the masters (Microsoft): a pirated version shall be easily available I think you mean \"should\" not \"shall\". Shall: this is a prediction of the future; this will happen. Should: this is a recommendation; this is a desirable alternative; this ought to happen. What you wrote is literally incorrect at present. But if I am right, you meant: \"They should learn from the masters (Microsoft): a pirated", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "ArcaOS 5.1.2 (based on OS/2 Warp 4.52) now available"}, {"id": 757613504, "item_id": 47350844, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47350844", "by": "rcleveng", "date": "2026-03-12", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used to love OS/2 back when developing DOS applications", "excerpt": "It's been super amazing to see how much they could continue to support newer hardware and keep it going considering that I don't believe they have the kernel source. It wasn't too long ago I saw OS/2 on some ATM machine that was crashed. I used to love OS/2 back when developing DOS applications (since I could crash the app and not the machine). OS/2 got me interested in \"real OS's\" and then SunOS in college, etc.", "context": "", "use_case": "developing DOS applications", "switched_from": "", "story": "ArcaOS 5.1.2 (based on OS/2 Warp 4.52) now available"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 766047488, "item_id": 47877968, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47877968", "by": "tracker1", "date": "2026-04-23", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I have very little desire to look back to those days.", "excerpt": "I've completely forgotten pretty much everything about OS/2... worked support for iomega for a while covering OS/2, Jazz and 2nd level zip calls in the late 90's. I have very little desire to look back to those days. Except it would be nice if computers were as snappy as back then... so many layers of cruft that nothing really pops. I remember I used to just disable all the NT/2K animations and it felt so nice. I bui", "context": "former Iomega support worker, now a web developer", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 9x Subsystem for Linux"}, {"id": 757130404, "item_id": 47320650, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47320650", "by": "billygoat", "date": "2026-03-10", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I'll skip our brief foray into the dead end that was OS/2 2.0", "excerpt": "woohoo, great post, brings back memories. My first internship when I was 19 and still in college (well, failing out at that point but that's another story...) was at a small consulting company where every desk had a 286 clone running MS-DOS 3.3. We spent our entire days in SuperCalc 3 and dBase III, and some of the fancier staff actually got to use 1-2-3. I think we used both because 1-2-3 had copy protection and Sup", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Lotus 1-2-3 on the PC with DOS"}, {"id": 735704643, "item_id": 45981540, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45981540", "by": "lproven", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "warn", "quote": "OS/2 1.x was cripped by being a 286 OS, it flopped", "excerpt": "> had they not gotten lucky with the whole MS-DOS deal, maybe they would have kept Xenix and who knows how that would have turned out. Oh, absolutely, yes. It's one of the historical inflection points that's visible. My favourites... \u2022 MS wanted to go with Xenix but DOS proved a hit so it changed course. \u2022 DR had multitasking Concurrent DOS on the 80286 in 1985, but Intel's final released chip removed the feature CDO", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Run ancient UNIX on modern hardware"}]}], "who": [{"by": "lproven", "context": "tech professional and journalist who deployed Windows since 3.0", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48475783", "date": "2026-06-10"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["daily operating system", "desktop os on 386sx", "running dos and win16 apps", "developing dos applications"], "compared": [{"slug": "windows-3-x", "name": "Windows 3.x", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48458890", "title": "GentleOS \u2013 Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47350244", "title": "ArcaOS 5.1.2 (based on OS/2 Warp 4.52) now available", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49910465", "title": "cp: -r or -R?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49537553", "title": "Gemini 3.8 Flash and 3.8 Flash Cyber", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47861270", "title": "Windows 9x Subsystem for Linux", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47507150", "title": "Wine 11 rewrites how Linux runs Windows games at kernel with massive speed gains", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"warn": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"warn": 1, "recommend": 2, "neutral": 1}, "2026-04": {"warn": 1}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-10": {"neutral": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 799102545, "item_id": 49943909, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49943909", "by": "JdeBP", "date": "2026-10-03", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "But even earlier, OS/2 1.x had a proper DosCopy() system call.", "excerpt": "When cp was invented, 'most filesystems' did not have the first clue about copy on write. However, I should note that possibly the first company to invent what you describe was Microsoft. Novell Netware 386 had an NCOPY command which invoked a Netware extension to the DOS API that told the server to perform the entire copy on the server. But even earlier, OS/2 1.x had a proper DosCopy() system call. Since it could be", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "cp: -r or -R?"}, {"id": 792999936, "item_id": 49562496, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49562496", "by": "p_l", "date": "2026-09-04", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "", "excerpt": "Popular claim by IBM PR, but the issue was that OS2fW component (which reused locally-installed Windows 3.x) had binary patches it applied to windows core component to turn it from DPMI host (which owns 32bit pagetable etc.) into DPMI client so that Windows would call to OS/2 for handling paging setup, and other details of interop. The patches were made for Windows 3.1, but not for Windows 3.11 - since the changes re", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Gemini 3.8 Flash and 3.8 Flash Cyber"}, {"id": 775612528, "item_id": 48475783, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48475783", "by": "lproven", "date": "2026-06-10", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I still run OS/2 today.", "excerpt": "> For you to downvote my small comment I didn't. I checked. I have not. > go on to lecture me about things you have barely any grasp or memory of, No, this is not true or accurate. It is a personal attack. I am a tech professional and I was back then as well. I ran Windows 2.0 and deployed 3.0 in production; I deployed and supported Windows 3.0, 3.1, Windows for Workgroups 3.1 (a different product of little importanc", "context": "tech professional and journalist who deployed Windows since 3.0", "use_case": "daily operating system", "switched_from": "", "story": "GentleOS \u2013 Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI"}, {"id": 775608032, "item_id": 48475502, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48475502", "by": "NoGravitas", "date": "2026-06-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I found it more useful than Windows 3.1 on the same hardware, because it could reliably run a serial modem download in the background while I did word processing.", "excerpt": "I used a 386sx with 4MB of RAM with OS/2 2.1. It was usable for a lot of things. I certainly used word processors, terminal emulators, and casual games in that config. It did swap something terrible if you pushed it beyond its pretty narrow limits, and unlike Windows 3.1, it had enough promise to encourage you to do so. I found it more useful than Windows 3.1 on the same hardware, because it could reliably run a seri", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop OS on 386sx", "switched_from": "", "story": "GentleOS \u2013 Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI"}, {"id": 775399968, "item_id": 48462498, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48462498", "by": "lproven", "date": "2026-06-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I ran OS/2 2.0 on them both.", "excerpt": "> it's quite a feat to fit this into 4 MB on a 386. I had 2 different Librex 386SX laptops, with 4MB of RAM, on long-term loan from work around 1992. One was quite chunky, the 2nd was a slimline thing with an off-centre hinge. I ran OS/2 2.0 on them both. So I could run multiple DOS apps, and a WinOS2 VM containing Windows 3.0, meaning I could run Win16 apps as well. And native OS/2 apps, although I didn't have many.", "context": "Used OS/2 2.0 on 386SX laptops around 1992", "use_case": "Running DOS and Win16 apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "GentleOS \u2013 Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI"}, {"id": 766047488, "item_id": 47877968, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47877968", "by": "tracker1", "date": "2026-04-23", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I have very little desire to look back to those days.", "excerpt": "I've completely forgotten pretty much everything about OS/2... worked support for iomega for a while covering OS/2, Jazz and 2nd level zip calls in the late 90's. I have very little desire to look back to those days. Except it would be nice if computers were as snappy as back then... so many layers of cruft that nothing really pops. I remember I used to just disable all the NT/2K animations and it felt so nice. I bui", "context": "former Iomega support worker, now a web developer", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 9x Subsystem for Linux"}, {"id": 760160641, "item_id": 47510040, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47510040", "by": "dhosek", "date": "2026-03-24", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "when I used OS/2", "excerpt": "Way back in the 90s when I used OS/2 and running Windows applications required running a fully copy of Windows inside OS/2,\u00b9 I had dreamed of writing something akin to Wine for OS/2, but I lacked the knowledge to do it back then (and still do). I\u2019ve never used it since I never use Linux in a context that it would make sense (for me, as is the case for most Linux users I suspect, Linux is strictly a headless server OS", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Wine 11 rewrites how Linux runs Windows games at kernel with massive speed gains"}, {"id": 758360352, "item_id": 47397522, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47397522", "by": "lproven", "date": "2026-03-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "paid for the first couple (2.0 and 2.1) with my own cash", "excerpt": "> They shall learn from the masters (Microsoft): a pirated version shall be easily available I think you mean \"should\" not \"shall\". Shall: this is a prediction of the future; this will happen. Should: this is a recommendation; this is a desirable alternative; this ought to happen. What you wrote is literally incorrect at present. But if I am right, you meant: \"They should learn from the masters (Microsoft): a pirated", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "ArcaOS 5.1.2 (based on OS/2 Warp 4.52) now available"}, {"id": 757613504, "item_id": 47350844, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47350844", "by": "rcleveng", "date": "2026-03-12", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used to love OS/2 back when developing DOS applications", "excerpt": "It's been super amazing to see how much they could continue to support newer hardware and keep it going considering that I don't believe they have the kernel source. It wasn't too long ago I saw OS/2 on some ATM machine that was crashed. I used to love OS/2 back when developing DOS applications (since I could crash the app and not the machine). OS/2 got me interested in \"real OS's\" and then SunOS in college, etc.", "context": "", "use_case": "developing DOS applications", "switched_from": "", "story": "ArcaOS 5.1.2 (based on OS/2 Warp 4.52) now available"}, {"id": 757130404, "item_id": 47320650, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47320650", "by": "billygoat", "date": "2026-03-10", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I'll skip our brief foray into the dead end that was OS/2 2.0", "excerpt": "woohoo, great post, brings back memories. My first internship when I was 19 and still in college (well, failing out at that point but that's another story...) was at a small consulting company where every desk had a 286 clone running MS-DOS 3.3. We spent our entire days in SuperCalc 3 and dBase III, and some of the fancier staff actually got to use 1-2-3. I think we used both because 1-2-3 had copy protection and Sup", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Lotus 1-2-3 on the PC with DOS"}, {"id": 735704643, "item_id": 45981540, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45981540", "by": "lproven", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "warn", "quote": "OS/2 1.x was cripped by being a 286 OS, it flopped", "excerpt": "> had they not gotten lucky with the whole MS-DOS deal, maybe they would have kept Xenix and who knows how that would have turned out. Oh, absolutely, yes. It's one of the historical inflection points that's visible. My favourites... \u2022 MS wanted to go with Xenix but DOS proved a hit so it changed course. \u2022 DR had multitasking Concurrent DOS on the 80286 in 1985, but Intel's final released chip removed the feature CDO", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Run ancient UNIX on modern hardware"}]}