The Cutting Edge: COMPUTING / TECHNOLOGY / INNOVATION : Try OS / 2 Warp Now? Or Wait for Windows 95?

With Microsoft Corp. and the rest of the personal computer industry gearing up for the launch--finally!--of Windows 95 on Aug. 24, it’s easy to overlook the fact IBM’/ 2 Warp is available now in several new and improved versions. Does it make any sense to give Warp a try when you can get Windows 95 in three months?

For most users, the easy answer is no--though many will also want to think twice before switching to Windows 95. Although OS / 2 Warp is a robust high-performance operating system, and Windows 95 promises to be a reliable improvement over current Windows versions, the central issue for a computer user is whether a new operating system will make it easier to get work done.

Installing either OS / 2 Warp or Windows 95 requires learning new ways to do old tasks--and whether one or the other is a good idea depends upon what you’re doing with it.

OS / 2 Warp will run nearly all existing Windows and DOS program just fine, but it doesn’t look like either Windows or DOS on your computer screen. You have to learn your way around the OS / 2 desktop before you can actually get it to run your old, familiar programs.

Once you’ve done that, though, you’ll find that OS / 2 Warp runs many of those programs very well indeed. Unlike on Windows itself, Windows programs running on OS / 2 operate in a true multi-tasking environment with separate memory space allocations, which means a problem with one program won’t cause other programs to crash.

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Paradoxically, in fact, the best reason to2 Warp is to get optimal use of your existing DOS and Windows programs. There aren’t many OS / 2-specific programs to buy, since most software developers opted to write only for Windows after Microsoft pulled out of its joint development of OS / 2 with IBM. And this version of OS / 2 Warp won’t run future programs written to take full advantage of Windows 95. Maybe a later Warp version will. (IBM insists, despite some skepticism in the industry, that it remains committed to OS / 2 for the long term.)

There are a few specific categories of users who might find OS / 2 especially appealing. Small-business users who primarily run specialized DOS and Windows programs dedicated to their particular kind of business may find OS / 2 Warp a benefit, because it should allow them to run several programs simultaneously and more reliably. Warp runs DOS programs, particularly those that need a lot of memory, better than they run in DOS alone.

The latest version of OS / 2 Warp, Warp Connect, could be particularly attractive to small-office users because it has networking built in, including a simple kind of networking that lets a small group of people share printers, data files and even programs without the complexity of a full-blown networking system. The simple networking system is called peer-to-peer networking, because every computer and user on the system has equal status. Each person decides what portion of his or her files and programs to share with others on the network.

Another group who ought to consider OS / 2 Warp are computer game players. Many PC games run in DOS, not Windows, and they typically need a lot of memory. OS / 2 Warp can give these programs all the memory they want, and the system settings can be customized for each game. You’ll have to take special steps to get some sound cards to work properly with some games, however.

Computer hobbyists are the third category of users who would probably find favor with OS / 2 Warp. People who are entertained by learning how to use new programs and computer devices should like OS / 2 Warp. Not only does it come with excellent software to use the Internet, it also has a program for using CompuServe that is more powerful than the Windows counterpart. For those who want to tweak their own computers, OS / 2 Warp gives you access to myriad system settings that you can tailor individually for each program you run.

OS / 2 Warp comes in several color-coded versions: The red label version, OS / 2 Warp for Windows, $69, is meant for installation on computers that already have DOS and Windows installed. The blue label version, OS / 2 Warp with Win-OS / 2, also known as “full pack,” $114, should only be installed on computers that do not already have Windows. It includes IBM’s emulation of Windows and offers slightly better Windows program performance than the red label version.

This month IBM brought out red and blue label versions of OS / 2 Warp Connect, $124 and $159 respectively. It connects OS / 2 computers with the major PC network operating systems.

To combat the paucity of software designed to run especially under OS / 2, IBM also throws in the “BonusPak” with each version of Warp. You get IBM Works with its simplified office automation and personal productivity tools, communications and FAX software, including programs to dial-up the Internet (usage fees apply). There is also a “whiteboard” program, IBM Person to Person, that allows OS / 2 users to work remotely on the same document over a phone line.

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Be aware that you need a CD-ROM drive to install2 is no longer sold on diskettes.

IBM advertises that OS / 2 Warp will run on computers with only 4 megabytes of RAM. It’s mostly true, but misleading. OS / 2 Warp is a high-performance operating system meant to let you have several tasks running on your computer simultaneously. I can’t think of any reason to install it on a low-powered system.

In fact, you really need a computer with a high-performance EISA bus design to get the most out of OS / 2, especially if you intend to run multiple communications programs simultaneously.

The easiest way to get OS / 2 Warp is to buy a new IBM PC with it pre-installed. For existing machines, if you install OS / 2 Warp, make sure you have the DOS and Windows diskettes for your system (you’ll need the Windows disks during the installation of the red label version of Warp). Also make a complete tape backup of your system just before installing Warp and store that away.

If you decide that you don’t like OS / 2 Warp, you’ll need to reformat your hard disk from a DOS diskette in Drive A, and then reinstall DOS from diskettes, followed by the tape backup software. Then you can restore your system from the tape you’ve saved. Of course, you won’t have any data created while you were using OS / 2 unless you also save those files to diskettes before reformatting.

In working with OS / 2, I found some of the differences from Windows hard to get used to. One was the absence of an “exit” selection when I ran programs. Instead of exiting a program, you “close” it by clicking on a button in the upper left corner of the window.

Another is the extensive use of the right mouse button, which sits idle in current Windows usage. One right button activity is “setting,” which calls up a spiral notebook image. You can page through it, changing a wide variety of system settings appropriate for that object.

The OS / 2 “high-performance file system,” or HPFS, allows long file names and is much more robust than the DOS file system (or the upcoming Windows 95 derivative of the DOS files system). But you have to start with a blank or newly formatted hard drive to install the HPFS, so users who install over an existing DOS / Windows system will still be stuck with the clunky DOS file system.

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Business Computing welcomes your comments but regrets that the author cannot respond individually. Write to Richard O’Reilly, Computer File, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, or send messages to oreilly@latimes.com on the Internet.

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