Extended Top 11 List update from April 2003
In conjunction with our recent Top 11 list on OS/2, we're pleased to bring you our extended, 32-bit version, containing all of the top suggestions tendered by your fellow Network Computing readers. Enjoy. Top 11 Ways the world would be...
April 8, 2003
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In conjunction with our recent Top 11 list on OS/2, we're pleased to bring you our extended, 32-bit version, containing all of the top suggestions tendered by your fellow Network Computing readers. Enjoy.
Top 11 Ways the world would be different if OS/2 had won the operating systems race
There would be a "XP-OS/2" emulation. Touting "Better OS/2 than OS/2" -- Scott Reimers
Shutting down the OS from the keyboard would take 16 multi-key keystrokes (referenced in the middle of a 3" thick manual) - and still ask, "Are you sure?" -- Dave Deschere
Entire inventory of Windows95 CD-ROMs remarketed and sold as coasters for cans of beer. -- Matthew Ellsworth
Dell, Gateway, Compaq forced to pay license fee for.....well, some things never change. -- Matthew Ellsworth
Opera Software's web browser works on IBM's website, but IE crashes. -- Matthew Ellsworth
Steve Ballmer ends up as a manager at WalMart. -- Matthew Ellsworth
Bill Gates writes tome of poetic verse titled "Monopoly Lost", but claims it was his idea first and that it bears no similarity to Milton's classic. -- Matthew Ellsworth
Paul Allen couldn't afford to own Portland Trailblazers; has to settle for minor league sensation Redmond Reboots. -- Matthew Ellsworth
Ex-millionaire Bill Gates gets drunk and beats the crap out of a Nintendo. -- Matthew Ellsworth
Netscape Time Warner -- Chuck Evans
Two words: Melinda Gerstner -- Chuck Evans
Bill Gates predicts the demise of the PS2 and introduces a "run anywhere" programming language, Doors. -- Randy Ramsey
Internet Servers wouldn't run an operating system whose name ends in an 'X'. -- Michael Paschal
Reboot wouldn't be one of the 3 R's. -- Michael Paschal
Software alpha testing would happen at IBM, instead on your desktop. -- Michael Paschal
Greed would still be considered one of the seven deadly sins. -- Michael Paschal
I wouldn't have to answer my kid's question of why there isn't a Windows 96 and 99. The questions would have been more metaphysical like "What does Warp mean?" -- Harry Levinson
Bill Gates would be selling computer training videos on late night television. "OS/2 for beginners, Free with only $7.95 shipping and handling." -- Craig Myers
IBM would have been trust busted into three companies, software hardware and service. The hardware company would then merged with AT&T to sell computers to homeowners. The new company would be called IBM AT HOME -- Craig Myers
World wide productivity would be 25% higher with the elimination of "reboot time" -- Gregg Young
Microchannel would still be king! -- Jim Sierk
Beta would beat VHS and remain the most popular -- Jim Sierk
Quicker LINUX on the desktop -- Jim Sierk
The Lotus Approach certification is considered valuable to companies that aren't Lotus or IBM. -- Mark Jass
ATMs and alarm systems run Windows 3.1, requiring multiple restarts a day. -- Mark Jass
You could get Linux for your notebook without paying the Microsoft tax for an operating system you don't want. IBM unbundled their operating systems from their hardware in the late 1960s after being taken to court by IBM 360/370 plug compatible hardware manufacturers. -- Larry Karnis
OS/2000 would do transaction processing on a mainframe, but the port to your Nokia would be a "bit" behind schedule
Redmond would still be a Starbucks and a Safeway warehouse. -- RR
Larry Ellison would invite his VP Bill Gates over for sushi. -- RR
The OS-Box still wouldn't be as cool as a PS2. -- RR
You wouldn't need a P-4 with 256mb to play solitaire. -- Douglas Lancaster
Jokes would be very different - how many have you seen that include a $ (Micro$oft!) -- Bob Baer
IBM Office updates would be gigantic, free, and quarterly - they would be shipped to you on your new XXXX-gig hard drive, which you would need to run them... -- Bob Baer
Linux? How about OS2/3270 instead? -- Bob Baer
You still have to load those silly diagnostic diskettes to get meaningful error messages! -- Bob Baer
Everything you ever wanted to know about Windows is in a Red Book that you can't find on the IBM web site... -- Bob Baer
No more commercials with guys in tin foil suits or rhetorical questions about where you want to go today... -- Bob Baer
At least all of their old machines can be seen at the Smithsonian! -- Bob Baer
Wow! Windows is fast, flexible, and stable! -- Bob Baer
SNA would be the Internet Protocol. -- Allan Alton
There would have been an army of "IBM Certified config.sys engineers" -- Mike Moody
The "Wizard of OZ", would be renamed, The "Wizard of OS". -- Josaeph M. Manuto
Since our OS/2 computers would be listening to us, we'd all have to learn to think before speaking -- Rhodes Hileman
Much less Virus, etc attacks...OS/2 is too hard for most of the skriddies to hack. -- G J Feig
Probably less LookoutExpress HTML-attachments on email. -- G J Feig
2.5mhz PCs that actually compute at that speed. -- Jon Z
Millions of people who now spend their time reinstalling Windows, recovering from crashes, and rebooting Windows could spend their time doing something productive. The world's economy would grow by leaps and bounds! -- Steve McCrystal
No more BSD (Blue Screen of Death)! -- Lionel C. Abrahams
Can put my multiprocessors to use -- Lionel C. Abrahams
AV software - a microniche product for the truly paranoid -- Felix Miata
Defragging software - what's fragmentation? -- Felix Miata
Uptime measured in days instead of minutes. -- Felix Miata
AOL would never have had the power to buy Time-Warner (what's AOL?) -- Felix Miata
Reinstalling - something you do when the HD dies, and you had quit backing up 6 months ago because you never needed those backups. -- Felix Miata
Bill Gates' new garage wouldn't have cost more than your expected lifetime income. -- Felix Miata
Setup Wizard would no longer be preparing the InstallShield Wizard to assist with the rest of installation; instead, the user would be preparing 3 floppies to recover from the failed installation. -- Andrew Belov
You wouldn't have to upgrade your hardware/software every time the OS was upgraded, as unlike Windows, which is neither backward nor forward compatible, the 32-bit versions (2.0+)of OS/2 now in its 11th year, is both, The system architecture is able to be incrementally changed, because it was designed right the first time, and running on the same hardware, OS/2 still has a huge performance lead. -- Mike O'Connor
Bill Gates would be my pool boy. -- Jason Hicks
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