As I recall, it's closed because it's actual OS/2, licensed from IBM.
And that's closed, according to most commentators over the years, because the original agreement with Microsoft is not worth IBM's time and money attempting to unpick, given that IBM took over a Linux distribution instead.
TIL: ArcaOS: a modern 32-bit OS/2 successor that works on current hardware, includes a lot of software compatibility layers like Odin to run Win32 applications, kLIBC to run Linux applications and OpenJDK to run Java applications.
And it's closed source and proprietary.
And it costs $139 for personal use.
More here: https://www.arcanoae.com
I genuinely wonder if there's a market and a consumer for this OS. Who might use it? Is OS/2 Warp is still in production? In some critical infrastructure maybe? Banks? Governments?
It's certainly not a hobbyist and enthusiast OS.
You can even trade up your existing OS/2 support subscription to ArcaOS support subscription.
It's such a blast from the past!
#ArcaOS #OS2 #OS2Warp #OS2Warp4
I don't know why but I now have tcp/ip and sound working in #FreeDOS 1.4!
It's been fun revisiting DOS but damn it's primitive! Thankfully FreeDOS is a little easier on you. What next...? #ArcaOS perhaps?
"Verdens mest populære 32-biters PC-operativsystem", or as it said on the English boxes, "World's most popular 32-bit PC operating system".
Yeah - soon it will regain that title, as all the others are dropping 32-bit support in short order and OS/2 is still being sold (as #ArcaOS) :dinosaur:
So sieht übrigens der Bildschirm von ArcaOS 5.0 aus, einer OEM-Version von OS/2. Inzwischen gibt es auch ArcaOS 5.1, aber ich habe mir das Upgrade nicht geleistet.
ArcaOS versucht, OS/2 auch auf moderner Hardware einsetzbar zu machen, incl. USB, UEFI, CUPS-Drucksystem usw. Allerdings ist es immer noch ein 32-Bit-System, was bedeutet, dass es maximal 4 GB RAM verwenden kann.
Bin heute mal wieder zufällig über meinen leider längst verstorbenen Lieblings-PC gestolpert, ein IBM Thinkpad 600X mit Docking Station. 64 MB RAM, 6 GB Festplatte. Gebraucht gekauft.
Ich hatte darauf OS/2 Warp 4 laufen. Das war traumhaft...
Ich hatte leistungsfähigere PCs, aber nie einen besseren.
Die 600er waren noch offiziell für OS/2 geeignet und haben das System gut unterstützt.
Als mein ThinkPad den Geist aufgab, endete für eine ganze Zeit meine Beschäftigung mit OS/2. Erst mit eComStation (in Virtual PC) fing ich wieder an, mit OS/2 zu arbeiten. Aber nie wieder auf echter Hardware (einen Versuch hatte ich noch gemacht, mit ArcaOS 5, aber Hardware und Betriebssystem mochten sich nicht).
I remember when #Windows95 had recently came out and I went to the local Best Buy and changed all the screensaver text to say "OS/2 Warp" because even then I was into alternative software/etc (I still pay for an #ArcaOS subscription).. then later that day I went home and something in os/2 broke so I just put win95 on my machine and wow what an experience.
Warpstock Europe 2025
#OS/2 #ArcaOS #ArcaNoae #eComStation
https://alt-f4.cz/warpstock-europe-2025
@jbz what I'd like to know is if I can run #ArcaOS in a VM or get a container version. I tried installing #eComStation from CD's in #VirtualBox, based on someone's video, but utterly failed.
All I really want to do is run an old version of #PGP so I can extract my keys and use them as the basis for new #GPG keys. Apparently GPG's backward compatibility only goes so far 😢
ArcaOS 5.1.1 přináší první tři lokalizace
#OS/2 #ArcaOS #ArcaNoae
https://alt-f4.cz/arcaos-5-1-1-prinasi-prvni-tri-lokalizace
ArcaOS (previously: Blue Lion) - a 32-bit single-user multiprocessor operating system with preemptive multitasking for the x86 architecture, built on the basis of OS/2 Warp 4.52. https://archiveos.org/arcaos/ #os2 #operatingsystem #arcaos
Jak vybrat hardware pro ArcaOS
#ArcaOS #OS/2 #ArcaNoae
https://alt-f4.cz/jak-vybrat-hardware-pro-arcaos
@mhd I have an ongoing project that I’ve been tinkering with on and off (mostly off) for well over 20 years (!), first on OS/2, then eComStation, currently on ArcaOS. Uses VisPro/REXX. Like all the best hobby projects, it will probably never see the light of day, but hey, it’s fun. 🙂
#rexx #OS2 #ArcaOS.
Never exposed myself much to IBM OS/2 and maybe it was better before the warp era compared to other operating systems at the time. But it hasn't aged that well like the BeOS/Haiku experience.
I prefer running an OS natively on the hw but in this case I wasn't that committed. Not yet at least. But maybe #ArcaOS is the modern alternative to Win98SE for #DOS and early Windows Gaming and I should install it on some computer as the only OS.
USB stack 12.16 pro OS/2 a kompatibilní
#ArcaNoae #ArcaOS #OS/2 #eComStation #ovladač
https://alt-f4.cz/usb-stack-12-16-pro-os-2-a-kompatibilni
@ltning I miss OS/2 :(
I must try #ArcaOS sometime: https://www.arcanoae.com/arcaos/
Well, after a day of stupiditry, I finally got
#ArcaOS "installed" on the new MiniPC and the #BBS working.
#retrocomputing is fun, but sometimes stuff is way more complicated than needed.
Blogged the whole thing at https://insecuredisaster.com/arca-os-a-minipc-and-running-a-bbs/ should someone care to read about how it took a whole day to do something that should have taken like an hour.
