16-bit archaeology

[Michael Kerpan]

I recently accquired a copy of OS/2 1.3 and am playing around with it in an emulator. It's been interesting to play with and to see how things evolved over time. One problem, however, is that I can't really find any software. I know that MS put out versions of Word and Excel and that both IBM and MS had dev tools available, but I'm not finding any of that. Additionally, I know that various shareware and freeware programs were once available, but everything that old seema to have vanished. Does anybody have any ideas?

[Dave Yeo]

Post by Michael Kerpan
I recently accquired a copy of OS/2 1.3 and am playing around with it in an emulator. It's been interesting to play with and to see how things evolved over time. One problem, however, is that I can't really find any software. I know that MS put out versions of Word and Excel and that both IBM and MS had dev tools available, but I'm not finding any of that. Additionally, I know that various shareware and freeware programs were once available, but everything that old seema to have vanished. Does anybody have any ideas?

Perhaps on old CD collection such as the old Hobbes,
http://cd.textfiles.com/hobbesos2/ or might be others on the site,
http://cd.textfiles.com/directory.html. Seems I've seen other
collections as well. Google might help
Microsoft also had a 16 bit family (text) version of Word available for
free on their site and previously I had PMWord but forget where I found it
Dave

[Andreas Kohl]

Hello,

So you can download some stuff here:
<http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/os2/16bit/>

The devtools are no longer sold by MS or IBM. But you could use the
16-bit parts of OpenWatcom C++ or FORTRAN Version 1.8
<ftp://ftp.openwatcom.org/archive/>.

--
Andreas

[Michael Kerpan]

Post by Andreas Kohl
Hello,
<http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/os2/16bit/>

Thanks. There's some good stuff there.

Post by Andreas Kohl
The devtools are no longer sold by MS or IBM. But you could use the
16-bit parts of OpenWatcom C++ or FORTRAN Version 1.8
<ftp://ftp.openwatcom.org/archive/>.

Obviously the tools are no longer sold. Given that OpenWatcom doesn't run under 16-bit os/2 as far as I can tell (it only cross-compiles), it looks like my "demo image" that I use for my write up won't have any native dev tools.

Mike

[Dave Yeo]

Post by Michael Kerpan

Post by Andreas Kohl
The devtools are no longer sold by MS or IBM. But you could use the

Post by Andreas Kohl
16-bit parts of OpenWatcom C++ or FORTRAN Version 1.8
<ftp://ftp.openwatcom.org/archive/>.

Obviously the tools are no longer sold. Given that OpenWatcom doesn't run under 16-bit os/2 as far as I can tell (it only cross-compiles), it looks like my "demo image" that I use for my write up won't have any native dev tools.

IBM (and Microsoft?) used to give away MS Cv6 with the DDK, at least the
copy I have came from them and there was also MS C v7 floating around.
Perhaps Google can locate a copy
Dave

[Paul Ratcliffe]

Post by Michael Kerpan

Post by Andreas Kohl
<http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/os2/16bit/>

Thanks. There's some good stuff there.

Post by Andreas Kohl
The devtools are no longer sold by MS or IBM. But you could use the
16-bit parts of OpenWatcom C++ or FORTRAN Version 1.8
<ftp://ftp.openwatcom.org/archive/>.

Obviously the tools are no longer sold. Given that OpenWatcom doesn't run under 16-bit os/2 as far as I can tell (it only cross-compiles), it looks like my "demo image" that I use for my write up won't have any native dev tools.

I've got copies of MSC/MASM V5.1 from around the time of OS/2 1.0.
As far as I remember, that was bi-modal - it had DOS and native OS/2 versions.
Trouble is, it's all on 3.5" floppies and I don't know if my old machine will still
read them.

[Dave Yeo]

Post by Paul Ratcliffe

Post by Michael Kerpan

Post by Andreas Kohl
<http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/os2/16bit/>

Thanks. There's some good stuff there.

Post by Andreas Kohl
The devtools are no longer sold by MS or IBM. But you could use the
16-bit parts of OpenWatcom C++ or FORTRAN Version 1.8
<ftp://ftp.openwatcom.org/archive/>.

Obviously the tools are no longer sold. Given that OpenWatcom doesn't run under 16-bit os/2 as far as I can tell (it only cross-compiles), it looks like my "demo image" that I use for my write up won't have any native dev tools.

I've got copies of MSC/MASM V5.1 from around the time of OS/2 1.0.
As far as I remember, that was bi-modal - it had DOS and native OS/2 versions.
Trouble is, it's all on 3.5" floppies and I don't know if my old machine will still
read them.

Masm v5.1 is available at http://www.phatcode.net/downloads.php?id=168.
Unluckily it only contains 4 disk images and doesn't quite correspond to
the packing.lst which shows 5 disks and is missing some important stuff
such as the linkers docs and include files as well as the protected mode
versions of masm, the debugger and editor. The bound setup program does
run in a full screen session.
Dave

[Andreas Kohl]

Post by Michael Kerpan
Obviously the tools are no longer sold.

MASM 5.1 and Microsoft C Optimizing Compiler 5.1 were quite common, so
it's not impossible to find them in used condition. IBM C/2 is rare
nowadays. Further there were Lattice C and later Zortech C++.
With an assembler (MASM 5.0) and link (provided by OS/2) it's no problem
to create working programs.

Post by Michael Kerpan
Given that OpenWatcom doesn't run under 16-bit os/2 as far as I can

tell (it only cross-compiles), it looks like my "demo image" that I use
for my write up won't have any native dev tools.

OpenWatcom's 16-bit OS/2 executable files run perfectly under 16-bit
OS/2. You can also generate PM applications with them.

Andreas

[Michael Kerpan]

Thanks for all the hints and pointers. I've managed to track down PM Word and Excel 3.0 through a friend. I also found a video driver that works with PCem and lets me get an 800x600 screen. All things considered, my 16-bit exploration has been interesting: while 1.3 is VERY different from later versions of OS/2 on the surface, going just beneath the surface uncovers all sorts of things that went basically unchanged right through to 4.x (shell error messages, the help system, all sorts of dialog boxes for various bits of setup stuff, even the shutdown messages). The software available for the system doesn't seem any worse than the Windows versions from the era, but the general lack of it points to one reason that OS/2 1.x went nowhere in the market.

Mike

[Andreas Kohl]

Post by Michael Kerpan
I've managed to track down PM Word and Excel 3.0 through a friend.

This applications were quite late (around summer 1991). So when they
became available it was more usual to use them under new OS/2 2.0. Excel
2.2 was the first graphical spreadsheet (1989) followed by Lotus 1-2-3/G
and Informix Wingz.

Family mode applications were MS Word Version 5 and MS Multiplan Version 4.
Other text processors were IBM DisplayWrite 5/2 and Describe Version 2
and 3.

Post by Michael Kerpan
I also found a video driver that works with PCem and lets me get an 800x600 screen.

Interesting, which type of display adapter is emulated? In old OS/2 1.x
only XGA and Image Adapter/A provided high resolutions at a moderate
price tag.

Post by Michael Kerpan
All things considered, my 16-bit exploration has been interesting: while 1.3 is VERY different
from later versions of OS/2 on the surface, going just beneath the

surface uncovers all sorts of

Post by Michael Kerpan
things that went basically unchanged right through to 4.x (shell

error messages, the help system,

Post by Michael Kerpan
all sorts of dialog boxes for various bits of setup stuff, even the

shutdown messages).

There were lot of changes undercover, but in most cases compatibility
demands. In fact a lot of parts in the beginning of OS/2 2.0 were still
16-bit solutions. But it was sometime an advantage especially when
running LAN Server.

Andreas

[Michael Kerpan]

Post by Andreas Kohl
This applications were quite late (around summer 1991). So when they
became available it was more usual to use them under new OS/2 2.0. Excel
2.2 was the first graphical spreadsheet (1989) followed by Lotus 1-2-3/G
and Informix Wingz.

Interesting. Wingz would be interesting to see, but I can't find a copy.

Post by Andreas Kohl
Family mode applications were MS Word Version 5 and MS Multiplan Version 4.
Other text processors were IBM DisplayWrite 5/2 and Describe Version 2
and 3.

I've never come across any of those, except for Word 5. The only versions of Describe that I ever saw in the wild were 4 and 5.

Post by Andreas Kohl

Post by Michael Kerpan
I also found a video driver that works with PCem and lets me get an 800x600 screen.

Interesting, which type of display adapter is emulated? In old OS/2 1.x
only XGA and Image Adapter/A provided high resolutions at a moderate
price tag.

Among others, it can do a Trident TVGA8900, which has drivers available. It was a crappy card in real life, but it gets the job done in emulation.

Mike

[Andreas Kohl]

Post by Michael Kerpan

Post by Andreas Kohl
This applications were quite late (around summer 1991). So when they
became available it was more usual to use them under new OS/2 2.0. Excel
2.2 was the first graphical spreadsheet (1989) followed by Lotus 1-2-3/G
and Informix Wingz.

Interesting. Wingz would be interesting to see, but I can't find a copy.

Windows and OS/2 Version shipped in the same big box.
I have only the german language version here, to have an idea:
<http://blog.warpserver.de/?p=510>

Post by Michael Kerpan

Post by Andreas Kohl
Family mode applications were MS Word Version 5 and MS Multiplan Version 4.
Other text processors were IBM DisplayWrite 5/2 and Describe Version 2
and 3.

I've never come across any of those, except for Word 5. The only versions of Describe that I ever saw in the wild were 4 and 5.

Somewhere I should still have disks of DisplayWrite Composer.

Post by Michael Kerpan

Post by Andreas Kohl

Post by Michael Kerpan
I also found a video driver that works with PCem and lets me get an 800x600 screen.

Interesting, which type of display adapter is emulated? In old OS/2 1.x
only XGA and Image Adapter/A provided high resolutions at a moderate
price tag.

Among others, it can do a Trident TVGA8900, which has drivers available. It was a crappy card in real life, but it gets the job done in emulation.

The PCem website also lists ATI VGA Charger (28800) and Tseng Et4000
under emulated graphics cards. There should exist PM drivers for OS/2
1.1. I don't know about quality of emulation, but real hardware used to
work.

Andreas