IBM remakes OS/2. (IBM OS/2 2.0 operating system) (Reviews)

OS/2 2.0 may be the most capable PC operating system you can buy-and the most troubled.

The world's largest computer company has a proposition for you. If you own a 386 or 486 PC and use DOS or Microsoft Windows, IBM wants you to switch to OS/2 2.0. Big Blue promises that its revamped operating system-billed as "a better windows than Windows and a better DOS than DOS"-can run DOS, Windows, and OS/2 applications simultaneously in a true multitasking mode. Unfortunately, it takes a bit of blind faith to believe IBM's claims. Since the recent estrangement of IBM and Microsoft Corp., OS/2 2.0 is IBM's first solo attempt to produce a PC operating system. That wouldn't be so scary if IBM could point to other successes in the PC software market, but the only one that comes to mind is DisplayWrite. Even more daunting, OS/2 2.0 faces a massive compatibility challenge, as would any PC operating system that aims to run nearly every kind of application on nearly any kind of machine.

As a reality check, LOTUS test-drove the final beta copy of OS/2 2.0 five weeks before the software's scheduled end-ofMarch rollout. Our post-test recommendation: Let the buyer beware. OS/2 is truly a better DOS than DOS, and it runs most Windows 3.0 applications …