Warp: The future of personal computing is here

Warp: The future of personal computing is here

By Zatni Arbi

JAKARTA (JP): Have you ever cursed at the hourglass on the
screen that never stops dancing while you were trying to print
out a page full of combined bitmap and vector graphics? I bet you
have. Quite frequently, I'm sure. And while the computer is busy,
the best you can do is grab a piece of paper and fish for your
pencil, hoping that you'll have the chance to jot down the
brilliant inspiration that has just briefly and quickly passed
through your mind.

If that's your notion of multitasking, then you must have
stopped reading PC-related articles a long time ago. Multitasking
does not merely mean that you can drink Coke while driving your
car. It has the idea of productivity built in it. That's the
reason multitasking has been such a big deal in the PC industry.

The ability to run more than one applications at the same time
is the basic interpretation of the term. Microsoft has promised
to give us this capability for a long time, but we still have to
wait for Chicago to see whether the promise is finally delivered.
That means next year at the earliest. Windows NT already has it,
but this operating system requires a hefty hardware configuration
so it's not right for our personal computers. Fortunately, IBM
already has a true multitasking operating system for you. I've
tested it, and I must say I really like it.

Multitask

For starters, I now no longer have to waste any time formatting
diskettes. The moment I hit the Yes button to start the
formatting operation, I can switch to another application. And
while the diskette is being formatted, I can start printing a
CorelPHOTO-PAINT! bitmap on my Postscript-enabled HP IIIP.
Moreover, while the program is downloading the complex Postscript
file and formatting the 1.44 MB diskette simultaneously, I can
press Alt-Tab one more time to switch to another application.

If I had ReelMagic, I could have a window open in which I
could watch Top Gun next to my Ami Pro. Yet the performance
doesn't degrade. OS/2 can multitask programs in DOS, Windows and
itself without any glitch. Just take a close look at the
accompanying illustration, and you'll find even WordStar 5.5
running in a window.

So, if you're a faithful user of WPWin but hate its loading
process that seems to last eternally, grumble no more. With OS/2,
you can double-click on the WPWin icon and immediately hit Alt-
Tab to start working on something else. That way, at least you
don't have to waste your time waiting for your application to
accomplish its task. You immediately get back control over your
machine.

Installation

I did have a copy of OS/2 for Windows, a great product that was
launched earlier this year. I didn't get to use it for two
reasons: I didn't have a 486 machine and Disk of the installation
diskettes was defective. The Pre-release Version of OS/2 Warp
that I got about two weeks ago came in two installation diskettes
and one CD ROM.

IBM promised us that installation of Warp would be as easy as
it could get, and it is easy. All I had to do was swap the
connectors for drive A: with drive B: since OS/2 installation
utility requires the 3.5" drive as drive A:, run the CMOS setup,
put Disk 1 on Drive A: and the CD ROM in the CD ROM drive, and
reboot. IBM people told me that it would be a one button
installation procedure, and it is. I even chose the Custom
installation to have more control over the process, and still
there weren't many stages in which I was able to interfere. The
installation utility detected most of my hardware components and
loaded the necessary drivers.

Unfortunately, the Pre-release version did not have the driver
for my Orchid Fahrenheit 1280. Well, don't laugh at me; I know
this graphics accelerator board was one of the first of its kind,
and I'm out of luck as even the shipping version doesn't have the
driver for it either. My only hope is that Orchid Technology has
it and is willing to send me a copy. In the meantime, I have to
work in a standard VGA resolution, and hence the overcrowded
screen pictured in the illustration.

CD ROMs are really a blessing, as they free us from having to
swap diskettes. Needless to say, inserting and taking out 35
diskettes is no fun at all. Expect to see more and more programs
come in CD ROMs instead of diskettes.

During installation, OS/2 searches the hard disk, creates
folders for all DOS and Windows programs, and adds their respec
tive icons. It didn't recognize all of my programs, though. For
instance, it didn't recognize Hijaak Pro, my favorite tool for
screen capture. It did ask me to insert Disk 2, 5, 6 and 7 of
Windows for Workgroups installation diskettes. By the way, I
captured the OS/2 screen that you see in the illustration with
the help of this program, which did a similarly great job on the
Workplace Shell.

Speedy

I know I must remind myself constantly that I've just
graduated from 386 to 486, and that most of the perceived
increase of speed of my computer should be attributed to the
upgrade. But, boy, Warp is really fast. Even Windows programs run
at least as fast as in their native environment. It may not be
equal to what the word warp literally means, but it is fast. I
loaded a couple of programs, including CorelPHOTO-PAINT! and
jumping from one program to another was always as fast as getting
yourself robbed in the Grogol area in the middle of the night.

Craig Allen, IBM's technical marketing specialist, also
reminded me that I could further improve the performance by
letting OS/2 reformat my entire hard disk and use the High
Performance File System (HPFS) instead of the aging FAT. I didn't
do this, as I still want to be able to boot into the old,
familiar high-resolution DOS plus Windows when I need to work on
highly detailed DTP projects. Well, at least until I can get OS/2
driver for my Fahrenheit.

Bonus Pack

As many in the computer industry agree, the success of an operating
system depends heavily on how many applications are available
out there to take advantage of its strengths. IBM seems to
realize this, so they have bundled a number of great applets with
Warp, which they call "Your first OS/2 applications". And,
although I'd still call them applets, these programs are by no
means boneless. The word processor that comes in IBM Works, for
instance, has everything that you may need for your everyday
writing tasks. You can see this program in the illustration; just
look for a window in which you find the words "smoking in public
areas". The word processor can even convert files from Ami Pro
and WordPerfect automatically during the File Open operation.
Oddly, though, it doesn't read Microsoft Word or Winword files,
although the full shipping version may.

In the illustration, to the right of the word processor,
you'll see the spreadsheet that comes in IBM Works. You cannot
produce presentation-quality charts with the charting program in
Works, but you still can very easily make sense of the charts
created with this applet. In addition, there are personal
information management tools such as an address book, an
appointment book, a calendar, a contact list, a planner, and a
notepad. These may not be as well-integrated as Lotus Organizer,
but at least you don't have to pay for them since they all come
in the Bonus Pack.

Great value

Honestly speaking, OS/2 is a new and unfamiliar world to me. Just
the idea of shutting down before pressing the Power button of the
PC already gave me a feeling that I was not riding my old Raleigh
mountain bike. There's still so much to explore, and what I have
found so far leaves me convinced that this should be the way we
use our PCs. I'll tell you more as I find more interesting things
in this new world.

If you had been at the OS/2 Warp Launch demo, you'd be able to
see how Warp handles multimedia easily. Again, I was unable to
test this capability on my machine since my copy of Warp didn't
have the driver for my first-generation ProAudio Spectrum.
Sheesh... so much for early adopters.

The Information Superhighway is perhaps the biggest thing
happening in the world after the settlement of the Arab-Israel
conflicts. Warp also comes with a number of tools in its Internet
Connection, such as Web Explorer and Gopher, that will enable you
to roam the highway.

So, if you work with Windows programs, DOS programs or just
want to have fun, OS/2 is what you should have. As I wrote two
weeks ago, it can be installed on non-IBM machines as well. It
sure has all the drivers for the most popular add-on components
today, such as graphics adaptors from ATI, Cirrus Logic, Weitek
and Western Digital, ProAudio Spectrum 16, CD ROM from Mitsumi,
Sony, Phillips, Panasonic and NEC, and multimedia boards from
Hauppage, Creative Labs and ReelMagic. Printers drivers are as
complete as you'd find in Windows.