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From: phaniraj@plains.nodak.edu ( V. Phaniraj)
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.misc,comp.os.os2.apps,comp.os.os2.setup,comp.os.os2.beta,news.answers,comp.answers
Subject: OS/2 New User Introduction
Followup-To: comp.os.os2.misc
Date: 20 Jul 1996 22:00:02 -0500
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Archive-name: os2-faq/new-user/part1
Version: 950921
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Contents :
[1] Introduction
[2] Where Can I get OS/2
[3] OS/2 Frequently Asked Quesions List
[4] OS/2 Newsgroups
[5] OS/2 Web Sites
[6] Free Realtime Support and conversation about OS/2
[7] Where to report problems with OS/2
[8] Where to make suggestions for improving this document.
OS/2 New User Introduction
==========================
[Revised: September 21, 1995]
Welcome to the world of OS/2! IBM OS/2 Warp 3.0 is an inexpensive,
full-featured, DOS- and Windows-compatible operating system for 386-SX (or
better) PC compatibles. It is quite powerful (supporting long
filenames , REXX programs, Adobe Type Manager and TrueType [in Windows],
a 32-bit flat memory model, preemptive multitasking, multithreading, advanced
multimedia including software motion video, and robust communications,
for example), yet its Workplace Shell user interface makes it
remarkably easy to use (and amazingly flexible).
In addition to the features listed above, OS/2 Warp 3.0 contains several
major improvements aimed at making it easier to start using
immediately, These include a interactive tutorial, and several
integrated productivity applications such as a spreadsheet, word
processor, database, and personal information manager. It also includes
"one-button access" to the Internet, through IBM's Advantis service.
[Other Internet service providers can be used too]. Other applications
in the Bonus Pack include a Fax application, a Compuserve Information
Manager, and a Communications program. Updates to Warp can be
found on the Internet, at ftp.ibm.net for example, and at this time
these include the Web Explorer 1.02, a multi-threaded World-Wide_web
client, an Archie client, and a PPP [point-to-point protocol] client.
This brief document is intended to help you get started using the
Internet's OS/2 newsgroups and to help you obtain more information on
OS/2. Read it carefully to get started with this exciting operating
system. It will be posted regularly to the OS/2 newsgroups which new
users are most likely to visit.
Where Can I Get OS/2?
---------------------
In the United States, IBM OS/2 Warp 3.0 is available from
almost any software dealer, including Egghead, Software Etc., CompUSA,
Softmart, Babbage's, and many others. (Below Zero, Indelible Blue, and
other vendors listed in the OS/2 FAQ List -- see below -- will handle both
U.S. and international mail orders for the U.S. English version.) It
is also available directly from IBM through the OS/2 Hotline at (800)
3-IBM-OS2. You may also call the OS/2 Hotline if you would like OS/2
product literature, videotapes, books, t-shirts, and special discounts
on popular OS/2 applications.
As of now, there are four varieties of OS/2 commonly available.
[1] Choose OS/2 Warp 3.0 FullPack Full Edition, if you do not have either
DOS/Windows or a previous version of OS/2, and wish to
run Windows applications under OS/2. [ Street Price around $ 120]
Choose OS/2 Warp 3.0 Fullpack Upgrade Edition if you are upgrading
from the full version of OS/2 2.1. [Street price around $ 75]
Both Fullpack versions come with a specially compiled version of
Windows built-in, knows as Win-OS2.
[2] Choose OS/2 Warp 3.0 (around $ 75 from most dealers) if you
already have Windows 3.1, 3.11 or Windows for Workgroups (or if you
don't have Windows but do not need Windows application compatibility).
OS/2 Warp 3.0 is also the upgrade path for users of OS/2 2.1 for
Windows [ it is NOT an upgrade path for users for OS/2 2.1 Full].
The two FullPack versions come in boxes with a blue spine, as opposed
to regular Warp [the one without Win-OS2] which comes in a box with a
red spine.
OS/2 Warp 3.0 [ any of the 3 flavors] does not support Ethernet or
Token Ring based networks without additional software. [ A freeware
addon to support ethernet cards is available at many OS/2 ftp sites ]
[3 and 4] To buy a copy of Warp with both network card and modem support,
OS/2 Warp Connect is recommended. It is available in both a
Fullpack version [ including Win-OS/2] and a without Win-OS/2 version.
Both of these contain the full OS/2 Warp operating system, and in
addition include Internet clients, as well as clients for most major
network operating systems built-in. These include Novell, IBM
Lan Server, Microsoft Windows NT, Microsoft Lan Manager, Lantastic
and others. It also includes Peer-Peer Networking with other PC's
running Warp Connect, or Windows for Workgroups.
Street prices for Warp Connect Fullpack are around $ 125-160 ; an academic
price for Warp Connect is also available, for around $ 100.
Packages 1 and 2 are available in your choice of 3.5 inch, or CD-ROM
medi, while Warp Connect is avaiable on CD-ROM only.
If you purchase the diskette version of OS/2, be sure to buy the
diskette size that corresponds to your Drive A. (Similar to the DOS install,
you must boot from the OS/2 diskettes to install it.) Before purchasing
the CD-ROM version, check with the OS/2 FAQ List (see below) to make sure
your CD-ROM drive and adapter combination are supported by OS/2 (the
vast majority now are). (The FAQ List also includes purchase suggestions
if you do not yet own a CD-ROM drive.) OS/2 3.0 contains support for
significantly more CD-ROM drives than OS/2 2.11.
In addition to these three packages, OS/2 2.11 is available in a
symmetric multi-processing version that can exploit computers that
have more than 1 CPU [ upto 16]. There will also be update of the
OS/2 2.1 SMP to the Warp level in 1995. Among planned updates to Warp
are a PowerPC version [ Warp PPC], and a version that incorporates
IBM Lan Server [ Warp Server].
Note that OS/2 2.11 (at least when purchased directly from IBM in the
United States) has a 30 day, no questions asked, money back guarantee.
You can try OS/2 risk free and return it for a full refund if not
completely satisfied.
Please see the OS/2 Frequently Asked Questions List for further
information on OS/2 pricing, availability, and hardware requirements.
OS/2 Frequently Asked Questions List
------------------------------------
The OS/2 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) List is a compendium of
useful OS/2 information. It should be your first stop whenever you
have an OS/2 question. Before you post a question to any OS/2
newsgroup, please check the FAQ List to see if it is already answered.
The first few sections of the OS/2 FAQ List are particularly helpful to
those who have never seen or used OS/2 before.
To obtain the OS/2 Frequently Asked Questions List, you may use "ftp."
The ftp command (available on most systems connected to the Internet)
allows you to retrieve files from other systems on the network. The
exact procedure may be different on your system, but you should try
the following command:
ftp ftp-os2.cdrom.com
(Press ENTER or RETURN after each command.) When asked for a
username, type:
anonymous
and when asked for a password, simply type your Internet mail address.
Then, type the command:
cd /pub/os2/16bit/info/faq
to change to the correct directory. To get a list of files in
that directory, type:
dir
Identify the file with the "highest" number. (As of this writing, the
latest OS/2 FAQ List is Release 2.1E, filename faq21e.zip.) To
retrieve this file, type the following commands:
binary
get faq21e.zip
The FAQ List package will then be placed in your home directory on
your home system. You can then download the file to your DOS or OS/2
machine. This file is "zipped," as many OS/2 program files are. You
need an UnZip utility to decode the file (and extract the files
contained in the package). Versions of UnZip are available for many
systems, including DOS, Unix, and OS/2. (The OS/2 version of UnZip is
located in directory /pub/os2/32bit/archiver on that same ftp site. The
16 bit version for OS/2 1.3 is in /pub/os2/16bit/archiver. Multiplatform
source code is also located there.)
The OS/2 Warp FAQ has been released, and will be available
at ftp-os2.cdrom.com soon. It is currently available at the other
major OS/2 ftp site, ftp-os2.nmsu.edu, in the directory
/os2/newsltr as file warpfaq3.zip. You may retrieve it in the
same manner as faq21e.zip.
The ftp-os2.cdrom.com site is one of the Internet's largest
repositories for OS/2 software and information. For more information
on ftp-os2.cdrom.com, consult the ASCII (text) file /pub/os2/0readme
at that site. For a directory of OS/2 files available at
ftp-os2.cdrom.com, retrieve the ASCII file /pub/os2/00index.txt.
If you need more help in either retrieving a file using ftp or in
UnZipping the file, ask your system administrator.
To end your ftp session, type:
quit
and you will be disconnected.
If you cannot use ftp, you may retrieve the FAQ List by mail from an
ftp mail server. Ask your system administrator (or consult the
newsgroup news.answers) for advice. The OS/2 FAQ List is also
available from several online services, including CompuServe, and many
bulletin board systems (BBSes). The OS/2 Shareware BBS
(+1-703-385-4325) and Greater Chicago Online (+1-708-895-4042) always
carry the latest version.
There are ftp sites world wide that may be easier for users in
Europe and Australia to access, namely src.doc.ic.ac.uk [ Britain],
and luga.latrobe.edu.au [ Australia]. These also "mirror" or keep
copies of the files from ftp-os2.cdrom.com. In the U.S, an alternate
site is ftp-os2.nmsu.edu.
The List is now also available through Gopher. Your host may have the
Gopher client software installed. Try entering the command:
gopher
to see if it works. If it does, you should navigate through the menus
to connect to the IBM Almaden Research Center experimental Gopher
server in California (or connect directly to index.almaden.ibm.com).
Once you have located that server, select "OS/2 Information," "Non-IBM
Originated Files," then download the OS/2 FAQ List.
Also, the FAQ is avalible via World Wide Web (WWW). If you have a WWW
Client (such as Mosaic or Lynx) installed, you should be able to get it at:
http://www.mit.edu:8001/activities/os2/os2world.html
The newsgroup news.answers contains several help files, posted
periodically, which can assist you in using ftp, mail, Gopher, and
LISTSERV systems. You may wish to consult these information files
before asking your system administrator for assistance.
OS/2 Newsgroups
---------------
After reading the OS/2 FAQ List you may have some unanswered questions. If
so, you may post a message to one of the Usenet OS/2 newsgroups (You can use
NewsReader/2, part of OS/2 Warp's Internet Connection, to read and post
messages in Usenet newsgroups). Note that crossposting (posting the same
message to more than one newsgroup) is generally frowned upon because it
defeats the purpose of having different newsgroups in the first place --
please try to post to just one newsgroup.
These OS/2 newsgroups are available:
comp.os.os2.setup.misc
Discussion of installing and configuring OS/2, and for discussion of
hardware/drivers (e.g. SMP boards, BIOS compatibility, mice, etc) not
covered by other OS/2 newsgroups.
comp.os.os2.setup.storage
Discussion of storage (drives, tape, CD-ROM) hardware/drivers
under OS/2.
comp.os.os2.setup.video
Discussion of base video hardware/drivers under OS/2.
comp.os.os2.multimedia
Discussion of multimedia-specific (sound cards, TV video, etc)
hardware/drivers under OS/2, and running DOS, Windows, and OS/2
multimedia apps/utilities (AVI players, CD-ROM players, etc)
under OS/2.
comp.os.os2.comm
Discussion of communications (modem, fax) hardware/drivers, and
running DOS, Windows, and OS/2 comm apps/utiliities under OS/2.
comp.os.os2.mail-news
Discussion of running DOS, Windows, and OS/2 mail and news apps/
utilities under OS/2.
comp.os.os2.networking.www
Discussion of running DOS, Windows, and OS/2 World Wide Web (WWW)
apps/utilities under OS/2.
comp.os.os2.networking.tcp-ip
Discussion of hardware/drivers/software dealing with TCP/IP
networks/networking under OS/2 (e.g. configuring SLIP or PPP,
running ftp, etc.).
comp.os.os2.networking.misc
Discussion of hardware/drivers/software dealing with other networking.
comp.os.os2.utilities
Discussion of DOS, Windows, and OS/2 general-purpose utilities
(e.g. shells, backup, compression, screen savers, INI editors,
system resource monitors, etc) under OS/2.
comp.os.os2.apps
Discussion of running DOS, Windows, and OS/2 general-purpose apps
(e.g. spreadsheets, word-processors, databases, financial, etc)
under OS/2.
comp.os.os2.games
Discussion of running DOS, Windows, and OS/2 games under OS/2.
Also welcome here is discussion of game-related hardware/drivers
(e.g. joysticks, steering wheels, etc) under OS/2.
comp.os.os2.programmer.porting
Discussion about portable libraries (e.g. OWL), porting tools (e.g.
SMART), and techniques related to porting software to OS/2.
comp.os.os2.programmer.oop
Discussion of system-level Object Oriented Programming (e.g. SOM,
DSOM, OpenDoc), including tools and techniques.
comp.os.os2.programmer.tools
Discussion of running DOS, Windows, and OS/2 general-purpose
programming tools (e.g. compilers, assemblers, source code revision
librarians, linkers, etc).
comp.os.os2.programmer.misc
Discussion of any other OS/2 programming issues.
comp.os.os2.bugs
Discussion of possible bugs (incorrect behaviour) in OS/2 (not
drivers, apps, utilities, or beta versions of OS/2), and discussion
of Corrective Service Disks, Service Paks, and Fix Paks.
comp.os.os2.beta
Discussion of beta releases of OS/2 (versions of OS/2 that are
released for testing purposes by IBM and that you cannot buy in
stores). Also for discussion of desired features ("wishlists")
you would like to see in future beta versions.
comp.os.os2.advocacy
Debating issues regarding OS/2 versus non-OS/2 operating systems
and environments, where anti-OS/2 advocates attack OS/2 on various
levels (e.g. OS/2 sales, marketing, features, support, installation,
etc), and pro-OS/2 advocates defend OS/2 on those issues.
comp.os.os2.misc
For general OS/2 discussion. Post here *only* if *no* other newsgroup
category fits.
comp.os.os2.marketplace
Posting of OS/2-related commercial product/service ads, Wanted and
For Sale ads, employment offerings and resumes, and recommendations
of excellent deals (e.g. "<company name> is selling <OS/2 product>
for <price>!!!"). Please prefix your subject line with the
appropriate tag:
Use Biz: for commercial ads.
Use Wanted: for wanted ads.
Use FS: for for-sale ads.
Use Trade: for trading ads.
Use Offered: for employment offerings. Please also use
abbreviations for country and state/province (if
applicable), and city or county name.
Use Resume: for employment resumes.
Use Misc: for anything else.
(e.g. ``FS: OS/2 2.1 3.5" '', ``Offered: USA-CA-San Diego Device
driver programmer needed'', ``Misc: I saw OS/2 Warp at half
price!!!'', ``Biz: FooBlueTwo's mail-order catalog'')
alt.org.team-os2
Discussion about Team OS/2, a group of volunteers who demonstrate
OS/2 to potential users.
The following newsgroups contain information about OS/2. These are not
discussion groups.
comp.os.os2.announce (moderated)
Carries announcements about OS/2 (e.g. new or updated software
press releases, user group schedules, WWW and ftp site info, etc).
At the beginning of every month, information about this newsgroup
is posted in the form of a "Welcome" message -- please read it.
This newsgroup is moderated -- you cannot ask a question here.
OS/2-related announcements should be submitted to moderator Dave
Tholen (tholen@newton.ifa.hawaii.edu). Please recommend the name of
an OS/2 newsgroup where you would like to have followup discussion.
For questions on a particular announcement that you read, contact the
submitter -- do not contact the moderator. Unfortunately, when
posting (as opposed to emailing) a response to a moderated newsgroup
many news software send that response to the moderator via email.
Please email your response to the submitter -- please check the
header for a "To:" line and make sure it has the submitter's
email address.
comp.binaries.os2 (moderated)
Originally a moderated newgroup that carried OS/2 software for those
without ftp access, but is now considered an "abandoned" newsgroup.
You may also be interested in the following newsgroups which cover
OS/2 topics with great frequency:
comp.lang.rexx
A general newsgroup covering the REXX programming language.
Every copy of OS/2 includes a built-in REXX interpreter.
comp.sys.powerpc
Both Apple and IBM have introduced computers based on the
PowerPC processor. IBM (and IBM compatible) PowerPC systems
will soon ship with OS/2 for PowerPC (part of the Workplace
OS family).
These newsgroups are obsolete and are not carried by many sites anymore.
Please to not post to them, even if you see some traffic there.
comp.os.os2 (replaced by comp.os.os2.misc)
comp.os.os2.programmer (replaced by comp.os.os2.programmer.misc)
comp.os.os2.networking (replaced by comp.os.os2.networking.misc)
comp.os.os2.ver1x (removed by vote; use appropriate comp.os.os2.* group)
comp.os.os2.setup (replaced by comp.os.os2.setup.misc)
OS/2 Web Sites
--------------
There are many World-Wide-Web sites that contain information
related to OS/2. Nore that they are not all IBM related, and
may contain outdated, or wrong information. Nevertheless
they are a useful source of information related to OS/2.
A few of them are listed below :
The IBM Web Site is at http://www.ibm.com/
A European equivalent is at http://www.europe.ibm.com/
The Team OS/2 Web site is at http://www.teamos2.org/ , and a
useful listing of almost all other OS/2 related Internet
resources is at http://www.teamos2.org/os2web/
Free Real Time Technical Support and OS/2 Discussion
----------------------------------------------------
If your host has an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client installed, it is
possible to get free help with installing, or any other problems by joining
the OS/2 channel. Although the people in the channel are not IBM technical
support, they can be very helpful. To see if you have an IRC client, try
typing:
irc
at the command line, and see if it works. To join the OS/2 channel, type:
/join #os/2
Aside from Technical Support, IRC is also a good place to get information,
rumours, and tips about OS/2. There are several IRC clients available for
OS/2 at ftp sites such as hobbes.nmsu.edu.
Reporting Problems to IBM
-------------------------
If you have an OS/2 problem you may contact IBM directly. Consult the
OS/2 FAQ List for details on OS/2 technical support (through
CompuServe, to CompuServe from the Internet, or by telephone).
Reporting Problems/Suggestions for this Document
------------------------------------------------
If you notice any problems with or have any suggestions for this document,
please e-mail me at: phaniraj@plains.nodak.edu. I try to keep up with any
discussions about this document that are posted to any of the newsgroups, but
occasionally I miss a few. E-Mailing me will assure that I receive your
comment. Also, please do not hesitate to give me suggestions. Most changes
to this document are made because someone has suggested it!
Again, welcome to OS/2!
--
V. Phaniraj, Electrical Engg. phaniraj@plains.NoDak.edu
North Dakota State University (701) 231-1024 (Office)
Fargo, North Dakota, 58105 (701) 231-8677 (FAX)
To YOU I'm an atheist; to GOD, I'm the loyal opposition -- Woody Allen