Editing OS/2 (section)

{{Short description|Operating system from IBM}}
{{Redirect|CP/DOS|the similarly named Digital Research operating system|CP/M}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2019}}
{{Infobox OS
| name = OS/2<!-- Name of program or distribution -->
| logo = Os2logo.svg<!-- filename only (no wikilink, no Image:/File:) -->
| logo caption = 
| logo size = 120px
| logo alt = OS/2 Logo
| screenshot = Os2W4.png<!-- filename only (no wikilink, no Image:/File:) -->
| caption = OS/2 Warp 4 desktop. This version was released on 25 September 1996.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.techrepublic.com/article/preview-ecomstation-22-beta-the-legacy-of-os-2-lives-on/ |title=Preview: eComStation 2.2 Beta, the legacy of OS/2 lives on |author=Matthew Nawrocki |date=26 February 2013 |website=TechRepublic.com |access-date=22 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220902021815/https://www.techrepublic.com/article/preview-ecomstation-22-beta-the-legacy-of-os-2-lives-on/ |archive-date=2 September 2022 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| screenshot_size = 330px
| screenshot_alt = OS/2 Warp 4
| collapsible = 
| version of = <!-- For articles about releases of operating systems ONLY -->
| developer = [[IBM]]<br />[[Microsoft]] (1.0–1.3)<!-- Name of main developer or sponsor-->
| family = <!-- "Unix-like" or "Microsoft Windows" -->
| working state = Historical, now developed as [[ArcaOS]]<!-- "Current", "Discontinued" (operating systems), or "No longer supported" (releases) -->
| source model = [[Closed source software|Closed source]]<!-- "Open source", "Closed source", or "Shared source" -->
| released = {{Start date and age|1987|12|df=yes}}
| discontinued = <!-- DON'T use this for articles about releases of operating systems -->
| RTM date = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes/no}} ONLY for articles about OS releases -->
| GA date = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes/no}} ONLY for articles about OS releases -->
| latest release version = 4.52
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|2001|12|df=yes}}
| latest preview version = 
| latest preview date = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes/no}} -->
| marketing target = Professionals, servers
| programmed in = [[C (programming language)|C]], [[C++]] and [[assembly language]]
| language = [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], [[German language|German]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Japanese language|Japanese]], [[Korean language|Korean]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Slovenian language|Slovenian]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Russian language|Russian]]<!-- Supported human languages (English, French, Italian, Arabic, ...) -->
| update model = <!-- APT, Windows Update, etc. -->
| prog_language = [[REXX]], [[Object REXX|Object Rexx]], [[Java (programming language)|Java]]
| package manager = <!-- dpkg, rpm, Windows installer, etc. -->
| supported platforms = [[32-bit]] [[x86]], [[PowerPC]]<!-- IA-32, x64, Itanium, ARM, etc. -->
| kernel type = [[Hybrid kernel]]<!-- Hybrid, Monolithic, Microkernel, Exokernel, Nanokernel, etc. -->
| influenced by = [[MS-DOS]], [[IBM PC DOS]]
| userland = 
| ui = [[Workplace Shell]]
| license = [[Proprietary software|Proprietary]]
| preceded by = 
| succeeded by = [[eComStation]]<br/>[[ArcaOS]]
| support status = <!-- For articles about releases of operating systems ONLY -->
| other articles = 
| website = [https://web.archive.org/web/20020206205124/http://www-3.ibm.com/software/os/warp/ OS/2 Warp (Archived)]
}}

'''OS/2''' is a [[Proprietary software|proprietary]] computer [[operating system]] for [[x86]] and [[PowerPC]] based [[personal computers]]. It was created and initially developed jointly by [[IBM]] and [[Microsoft]], under the leadership of IBM software designer [[Ed Iacobucci]],<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nuska |first1=Andrew |date=June 21, 2013 |title=Ed Iacobucci, co-founder of Citrix, dies of cancer |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/ed-iacobucci-co-founder-of-citrix-dies-of-cancer/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225224233/https://www.zdnet.com/article/ed-iacobucci-co-founder-of-citrix-dies-of-cancer/ |archive-date=25 February 2023 |access-date=20 May 2017 |publisher=[[ZDNet]]}}</ref> intended as a replacement for [[DOS]]. The first version was released in 1987. A feud between the two companies beginning in 1990 led to Microsoft’s leaving development solely to IBM, which continued development on its own. OS/2 Warp 4 in 1996 was the last major upgrade, after which IBM slowly halted the product as it failed to compete against Microsoft's [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]]; updated versions of OS/2 were released by IBM until 2001.

The name stands for "Operating System/2", because it was introduced as part of the same generation change release as IBM's "[[IBM Personal System/2|Personal System/2]] (PS/2)" line of second-generation PCs. OS/2 was intended as a [[protected mode|protected-mode]] successor of [[IBM PC DOS|PC&nbsp;DOS]] targeting the Intel 80286 processor. Notably, basic [[system call]]s were modelled after [[MS-DOS]] calls; their names even started with "Dos" and it was possible to create "Family Mode" applications – [[text mode]] applications that could work on both systems.<ref>{{cite web |author=Necasek |first=Michal |date=2001-09-08 |title=OS/2 1.3: Ten Years Ago |url=http://pages.prodigy.net/michaln/history/os213/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012190431/http://pages.prodigy.net/michaln/history/os213/index.html |archive-date=2007-10-12 |work=The History of OS/2}}</ref> Because of this heritage, OS/2 shares similarities with [[Unix]], [[Xenix]], and [[Windows NT]]. OS/2 sales were largely concentrated in [[Computer network|networked computing]] used by corporate professionals.

OS/2 2.0 was released in 1992 as the first [[32-bit computing|32-bit]] version as well as the first to be entirely developed by IBM, after Microsoft severed ties over a dispute over how to position OS/2 relative to Microsoft's new [[Windows 3.1]] operating environment.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=McCracken |first=Harry |author-link=Harry McCracken |date=2012-04-02 |title=25 Years of IBM's OS/2: The Strange Days and Surprising Afterlife of a Legendary Operating System |url=https://techland.time.com/2012/04/02/25-years-of-ibms-os2-the-birth-death-and-afterlife-of-a-legendary-operating-system/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128113323/https://techland.time.com/2012/04/02/25-years-of-ibms-os2-the-birth-death-and-afterlife-of-a-legendary-operating-system/ |archive-date=2022-11-28 |access-date=2024-07-26 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Markoff |first=John |author-link=John Markoff |date=1992-06-28 |title=I.B.M. and Microsoft Settle Operating-System Feud |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/28/us/ibm-and-microsoft-settle-operating-system-feud.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2024-07-26 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> With OS/2 Warp 3 in 1994, IBM attempted to also target home consumers through a multi-million dollar advertising campaign.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/08/science/personal-computers-os-2-no-longer-at-home-at-home.html |title=PERSONAL COMPUTERS; OS/2 No Longer at Home at Home |date=8 August 1995 |first=Peter H. |last=Lewis |work=[[The New York Times]] |url-access=subscription}}</ref> However it continued to struggle in the marketplace, partly due to strategic business measures imposed by Microsoft in the industry that have been considered [[Anti-competitive practices|anti-competitive]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/368660.stm | title=IBM chief: Microsoft killed OS/2 | date=15 June 1999 | first=Graham |last=Lea |website=BBC}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/18/business/microsoft-hampered-os-2-ibm-official-tells-court.html | title=Microsoft Hampered OS/2, I.B.M. Official Tells Court (Published 1998) | website=[[The New York Times]] }}</ref> Following the failure of IBM's [[Workplace OS]] project, OS/2 Warp 4 became the final major release in 1996; IBM discontinued its support for OS/2 on December 31, 2006.<ref>{{cite web |date=12 July 2005 |title=Changes in support for IBM OS/2 Warp 4 and OS/2 Warp Server for e-business |url=http://www-306.ibm.com/fcgi-bin/common/ssi/ssialias?infotype=an&subtype=ca&appname=Demonstration&htmlfid=897/ENUS905-163 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427082209/http://www-306.ibm.com/fcgi-bin/common/ssi/ssialias?infotype=an&subtype=ca&appname=Demonstration&htmlfid=897%2FENUS905-163 |archive-date=27 April 2006 |access-date=9 June 2006 |work=[[IBM]]}}</ref> Since then, OS/2 has been developed, supported and sold by two different third-party vendors under license from IBM – first by Serenity Systems as [[eComStation]] from 2001 to 2011,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ecomstation.it/pido2/ecshist.php|access-date=2020-08-29|title=eComStation (eCS) history|archive-date=2021-02-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204022557/https://www.ecomstation.it/pido2/ecshist.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> and later by Arca Noae LLC as [[ArcaOS]] since 2017.<ref name="Blue Lion 1st Article">{{cite web |author=Sanders |first=James |date=2015-11-02 |title=OS/2: Blue Lion to be the next distro of the 28-year-old OS |url=http://www.techrepublic.com/article/os2-blue-lion-to-be-the-next-distro-of-the-28-year-old-os/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225224309/http://www.techrepublic.com/article/os2-blue-lion-to-be-the-next-distro-of-the-28-year-old-os/ |archive-date=25 February 2023}}</ref><ref name="ArcaOS 1st Article">{{cite web |author=Sanders |first=James |date=2016-08-31 |title=OS/2 resurrected: Blue Lion becomes ArcaOS, details emerge for upcoming release |url=http://www.techrepublic.com/article/os2-resurrected-blue-lion-becomes-arcaos-details-emerge-for-upcoming-release/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025222558/http://www.techrepublic.com/article/os2-resurrected-blue-lion-becomes-arcaos-details-emerge-for-upcoming-release/ |archive-date=25 October 2022 |website=[[TechRepublic]]}}</ref><ref name="arcaos-release">{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/05/19/new_version_of_os_2_arca_os_5/|title=What is dead may never die: a new version of OS/2 just arrived|date=19 May 2017|last1=Sharwood|first1=Simon |website=The Register |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119232044/https://www.theregister.com/2017/05/19/new_version_of_os_2_arca_os_5/ |archive-date=19 January 2023 |url-status=live }}</ref>