Editing OS/2 (section)

====OS/2 Warp 3 (1994){{anchor|OS/2 Warp|3.0|3.0J|The "Warp" years}}====
{{multiple image
| align             = right
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| image1            = OS-2 Warp Version 3 wordmark.svg
| caption1          = Wordmark of OS/2 Warp 3.0
| image2            = os2-warp-3.png
| caption2          = OS/2 Warp Connect 3.0, showing the Windows 3.1 [[Program Manager]], [[QBASIC]] in a DOS window, and the LaunchPad (bottom center)
}}

Released in 1994, OS/2 version 3.0 was labelled as '''OS/2 Warp''' to highlight the new performance benefits, and generally to freshen the product image. "Warp" had originally been the internal IBM name for the release: IBM claimed that it had used ''[[Star Trek]]'' terms as internal names for prior OS/2 releases, and that this one seemed appropriate for external use as well. At the launch of OS/2 Warp in 1994, [[Patrick Stewart]] was to be the [[Master of Ceremonies]]; however [[Kate Mulgrew]]<ref name="KateMulgrewBioIMDB">{{cite web | title=Biography for Kate Mulgrew | website=Internet Movie Database | url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000550/bio | quote=In 1996, was contracted by IBM to help promote the latest release of OS/2 Warp, version 4 (previously codenamed Merlin), due to associations with Star Trek.}}</ref> of the then-upcoming series ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' substituted for him at the last minute.<ref name="InSearchofStupidityWeb">{{cite web |url=http://www.insearchofstupidity.com/ch6.htm |title=In Search of Stupidity, Excerpts from Chapter 6 |website=Insearchofstupidity.com |access-date=April 9, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127185712/http://www.insearchofstupidity.com/ch6.htm |archive-date=January 27, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="InSearchofStupidityBook">{{cite book | title=In Search of Stupidity: Over 20 Years of High-tech Marketing Disasters | first=Merrill R. | last=Chapman | date=2006 | publisher=Apress | location=Berkeley, California | edition=2nd | isbn= 9781590597217 | oclc=71275572 | medium=Paperback | quote=They rented a hall in New York City and invited hundreds to see Patrick Stewart, the then current captain of the Starship Enterprise to help roll out the product in a gala event. (Stewart was a no-show.|page=108)}}</ref>

OS/2 Warp offers a host of benefits over OS/2 2.1, notably broader hardware support, greater multimedia capabilities, [[Internet]]-compatible networking, and it includes a basic office application suite known as [[IBM Works]]. It was released in two versions: the less expensive "Red Spine" and the more expensive "Blue Spine" (named for the color of their boxes). "Red Spine" was designed to support [[Microsoft Windows]] applications by utilizing any existing installation of Windows on the computer's hard drive. "Blue Spine" includes Windows support in its own installation, and so can support Windows applications without a Windows installation. As most computers were sold with Microsoft Windows pre-installed and the price was less, "Red Spine" was the more popular product.<ref name="ars201311">{{cite web |last1=Reimer |first1=Jeremy |title=Half an operating system: The triumph and tragedy of OS/2 |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/11/half-an-operating-system-the-triumph-and-tragedy-of-os2/ |website=[[Ars Technica]] |access-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326084822/https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/11/half-an-operating-system-the-triumph-and-tragedy-of-os2/ |archive-date=26 March 2023 |date=November 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> OS/2 Warp Connect—which has full LAN client support built-in—followed in mid-1995. Warp Connect was nicknamed "Grape".<ref name=Both1996 />

In OS/2 2.0, most performance-sensitive subsystems, including the graphics (Gre) and multimedia (MMPM/2) systems, were updated to 32-bit code in a fixpack, and included as part of OS/2 2.1. Warp 3 brought about a fully 32-bit windowing system, while Warp 4 introduced the object-oriented 32-bit GRADD display driver model.