Warp: The future of personal computing is here<\/p>\n
By Zatni Arbi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Have you ever cursed at the hourglass on the
\nscreen that never stops dancing while you were trying to print
\nout a page full of combined bitmap and vector graphics? I bet you
\nhave. Quite frequently, I'm sure. And while the computer is busy,
\nthe best you can do is grab a piece of paper and fish for your
\npencil, hoping that you'll have the chance to jot down the
\nbrilliant inspiration that has just briefly and quickly passed
\nthrough your mind.<\/p>\n
If that's your notion of multitasking, then you must have
\nstopped reading PC-related articles a long time ago. Multitasking
\ndoes not merely mean that you can drink Coke while driving your
\ncar. It has the idea of productivity built in it. That's the
\nreason multitasking has been such a big deal in the PC industry.<\/p>\n
The ability to run more than one applications at the same time
\nis the basic interpretation of the term. Microsoft has promised
\nto give us this capability for a long time, but we still have to
\nwait for Chicago to see whether the promise is finally delivered.
\nThat means next year at the earliest. Windows NT already has it,
\nbut this operating system requires a hefty hardware configuration
\nso it's not right for our personal computers. Fortunately, IBM
\nalready has a true multitasking operating system for you. I've
\ntested it, and I must say I really like it.<\/p>\n
Multitask<\/p>\n
For starters, I now no longer have to waste any time formatting
\ndiskettes. The moment I hit the Yes button to start the
\nformatting operation, I can switch to another application. And
\nwhile the diskette is being formatted, I can start printing a
\nCorelPHOTO-PAINT! bitmap on my Postscript-enabled HP IIIP.
\nMoreover, while the program is downloading the complex Postscript
\nfile and formatting the 1.44 MB diskette simultaneously, I can
\npress Alt-Tab one more time to switch to another application.<\/p>\n
If I had ReelMagic, I could have a window open in which I
\ncould watch Top Gun next to my Ami Pro. Yet the performance
\ndoesn't degrade. OS\/2 can multitask programs in DOS, Windows and
\nitself without any glitch. Just take a close look at the
\naccompanying illustration, and you'll find even WordStar 5.5
\nrunning in a window.<\/p>\n
So, if you're a faithful user of WPWin but hate its loading
\nprocess that seems to last eternally, grumble no more. With OS\/2,
\nyou can double-click on the WPWin icon and immediately hit Alt-
\nTab to start working on something else. That way, at least you
\ndon't have to waste your time waiting for your application to
\naccomplish its task. You immediately get back control over your
\nmachine.<\/p>\n
Installation<\/p>\n
I did have a copy of OS\/2 for Windows, a great product that was
\nlaunched earlier this year. I didn't get to use it for two
\nreasons: I didn't have a 486 machine and Disk of the installation
\ndiskettes was defective. The Pre-release Version of OS\/2 Warp
\nthat I got about two weeks ago came in two installation diskettes
\nand one CD ROM.<\/p>\n
IBM promised us that installation of Warp would be as easy as
\nit could get, and it is easy. All I had to do was swap the
\nconnectors for drive A: with drive B: since OS\/2 installation
\nutility requires the 3.5\" drive as drive A:, run the CMOS setup,
\nput Disk 1 on Drive A: and the CD ROM in the CD ROM drive, and
\nreboot. IBM people told me that it would be a one button
\ninstallation procedure, and it is. I even chose the Custom
\ninstallation to have more control over the process, and still
\nthere weren't many stages in which I was able to interfere. The
\ninstallation utility detected most of my hardware components and
\nloaded the necessary drivers.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the Pre-release version did not have the driver
\nfor my Orchid Fahrenheit 1280. Well, don't laugh at me; I know
\nthis graphics accelerator board was one of the first of its kind,
\nand I'm out of luck as even the shipping version doesn't have the
\ndriver for it either. My only hope is that Orchid Technology has
\nit and is willing to send me a copy. In the meantime, I have to
\nwork in a standard VGA resolution, and hence the overcrowded
\nscreen pictured in the illustration.<\/p>\n
CD ROMs are really a blessing, as they free us from having to
\nswap diskettes. Needless to say, inserting and taking out 35
\ndiskettes is no fun at all. Expect to see more and more programs
\ncome in CD ROMs instead of diskettes.<\/p>\n
During installation, OS\/2 searches the hard disk, creates
\nfolders for all DOS and Windows programs, and adds their respec
\ntive icons. It didn't recognize all of my programs, though. For
\ninstance, it didn't recognize Hijaak Pro, my favorite tool for
\nscreen capture. It did ask me to insert Disk 2, 5, 6 and 7 of
\nWindows for Workgroups installation diskettes. By the way, I
\ncaptured the OS\/2 screen that you see in the illustration with
\nthe help of this program, which did a similarly great job on the
\nWorkplace Shell.<\/p>\n
Speedy<\/p>\n
I know I must remind myself constantly that I've just
\ngraduated from 386 to 486, and that most of the perceived
\nincrease of speed of my computer should be attributed to the
\nupgrade. But, boy, Warp is really fast. Even Windows programs run
\nat least as fast as in their native environment. It may not be
\nequal to what the word warp literally means, but it is fast. I
\nloaded a couple of programs, including CorelPHOTO-PAINT! and
\njumping from one program to another was always as fast as getting
\nyourself robbed in the Grogol area in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n
Craig Allen, IBM's technical marketing specialist, also
\nreminded me that I could further improve the performance by
\nletting OS\/2 reformat my entire hard disk and use the High
\nPerformance File System (HPFS) instead of the aging FAT. I didn't
\ndo this, as I still want to be able to boot into the old,
\nfamiliar high-resolution DOS plus Windows when I need to work on
\nhighly detailed DTP projects. Well, at least until I can get OS\/2
\ndriver for my Fahrenheit.<\/p>\n
Bonus Pack<\/p>\n
As many in the computer industry agree, the success of an operating
\nsystem depends heavily on how many applications are available
\nout there to take advantage of its strengths. IBM seems to
\nrealize this, so they have bundled a number of great applets with
\nWarp, which they call \"Your first OS\/2 applications\". And,
\nalthough I'd still call them applets, these programs are by no
\nmeans boneless. The word processor that comes in IBM Works, for
\ninstance, has everything that you may need for your everyday
\nwriting tasks. You can see this program in the illustration; just
\nlook for a window in which you find the words \"smoking in public
\nareas\". The word processor can even convert files from Ami Pro
\nand WordPerfect automatically during the File Open operation.
\nOddly, though, it doesn't read Microsoft Word or Winword files,
\nalthough the full shipping version may.<\/p>\n
In the illustration, to the right of the word processor,
\nyou'll see the spreadsheet that comes in IBM Works. You cannot
\nproduce presentation-quality charts with the charting program in
\nWorks, but you still can very easily make sense of the charts
\ncreated with this applet. In addition, there are personal
\ninformation management tools such as an address book, an
\nappointment book, a calendar, a contact list, a planner, and a
\nnotepad. These may not be as well-integrated as Lotus Organizer,
\nbut at least you don't have to pay for them since they all come
\nin the Bonus Pack.<\/p>\n
Great value<\/p>\n
Honestly speaking, OS\/2 is a new and unfamiliar world to me. Just
\nthe idea of shutting down before pressing the Power button of the
\nPC already gave me a feeling that I was not riding my old Raleigh
\nmountain bike. There's still so much to explore, and what I have
\nfound so far leaves me convinced that this should be the way we
\nuse our PCs. I'll tell you more as I find more interesting things
\nin this new world.<\/p>\n
If you had been at the OS\/2 Warp Launch demo, you'd be able to
\nsee how Warp handles multimedia easily. Again, I was unable to
\ntest this capability on my machine since my copy of Warp didn't
\nhave the driver for my first-generation ProAudio Spectrum.
\nSheesh... so much for early adopters.<\/p>\n
The Information Superhighway is perhaps the biggest thing
\nhappening in the world after the settlement of the Arab-Israel
\nconflicts. Warp also comes with a number of tools in its Internet
\nConnection, such as Web Explorer and Gopher, that will enable you
\nto roam the highway.<\/p>\n
So, if you work with Windows programs, DOS programs or just
\nwant to have fun, OS\/2 is what you should have. As I wrote two
\nweeks ago, it can be installed on non-IBM machines as well. It
\nsure has all the drivers for the most popular add-on components
\ntoday, such as graphics adaptors from ATI, Cirrus Logic, Weitek
\nand Western Digital, ProAudio Spectrum 16, CD ROM from Mitsumi,
\nSony, Phillips, Panasonic and NEC, and multimedia boards from
\nHauppage, Creative Labs and ReelMagic. Printers drivers are as
\ncomplete as you'd find in Windows.<\/p>",
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