For historical context, here is a good reference site on “Typical PCs Each Year”:
DOS Days – Typical PCs per Year
ABOVE: 1995 OS/2 Warp Connect running on a 1997 IBM ThinkPad 385CD (installed from original CD-ROM, updated with drivers from os2site.com). Multitasking with SimCity, Paint, ZOC (terminal), and PowerMod audio multi-track player.
Between 1994 and 1997, I used OS/2 daily on a custom-built 80486DX/50 based desktop system. While I had an early copy of “Chicago” (pre-release of Windows 95), I found OS/2 to be far more impressive and useful in 1994. It was actually my father who had bought me OS/2 as a gift. I recall that day, where I was about to take a nap on the couch, and just as my eyes were about to close, I noticed the “red edition” unopened box of OS/2 Warp across the room on a desk. I leapt up wide awake and asked right away if I could install it. [ I recall also having trouble making backup copies of the floppies since they were in a “weird” 1.88MB XDF format exclusive to OS/2; only the first two disk were “normal” 1.44MB, as they had the drivers necessary to read the 1.88MB format (described here) ]
My cousin had also introduced me to Linux in 1994. This was still years before home-internet was commonplace, so finding information outside of mainstream-advertised systems was difficult. It wasn’t until years later that I learned Linux had been based on MINIX (a minimalistic operating system discussed in Operator System courses at many universities, I still have my textbook on it. The only interesting thing I recall on that first introduction to Linux was being able to press ALT+1 through ALT+9 to swap between shell instances.
Most of what I already knew about MS-DOS and Windows (such as configuring CONFIG.SYS) still applied for OS/2. In addition, it was true that OS/2 had excellent compatibility with both MS-DOS and 16-bit Windows applications. I also came across local BBS’s (electronic bulletin board systems) and FidoNet groups that focused on OS/2, as a way to ask questions and get software.
So, for me, OS/2 was my daily driver OS for several years, up until Windows 98 was released (or Win98SE in particular). Since then, Windows has absolutely spoiled me. While I did try RedHat Linux a few times over the years, in general I found the inconsistencies across Linux distributions too bothersome. Especially things like copy-and-paste, configuring firewalls, and variations of shells. Plus keeping track of mounted devices, and where they were physically located, just wasn’t for me.
I did try Linux again later after getting a PS3 around 2006, and “for fun” we installed a variety of different Linux distributions. While it worked, the PS3 consumed a lot of power and had noisy fans. Heavenly Sword and Uncharted were my first favorite game on the PS3. But I recall on release, developers complained the PS3 was difficult to work with, and so it took a while before more solid PS3 games became available (like Grand Turismo, Last of Us, and the Heavy Rain).
Some historical context:
1987 December: Windows 2.0 [ MS-DOS 3.3 and 1.44MB 3.5″ disk format support ] [ IBM PS/2 ]
1988 NeXT / OPENSTEP [ SoundBlaster ]
1989 Intel 80486 Introduced [ Berners-Lee WWW ]
1990 May: Windows 3.0
1991 September: Linux introduced (roughly based on MINIX)
1992 April: Windows 3.1 [ OS/2 2.0 ]
1993 November: Windows 3.11 (Windows for Workgroups) [ MS-DOS 6.2; Slackware Linux ]
1994 October: OS/2 3.0 Warp (“red” edition) [ Win95 “Chicago”; Red Hat Linux ] [Myst]
1995 May: Windows 95 / OS/2 Warp Connect (“blue” edition) [650MB CD-R becomes affordable]
1996 September: OS/2 4.0 Warp
So, in 2023 I set on a quest to reproduce a physical OS/2 setup. But I didn’t want to use a desktop tower, I wanted to use a laptop. I quickly found that the original OS/2 Warp is very picky and hasn’t “aged well” in supporting modern hardware. I did get ArcaOS and successfully installed that on more modern 21st-century equipment (a Dell Precision M60 from about 2001 and an even newer multi-core system from c. 2007), which I may described more about that experience eventually. But it was confirmation that original 1990’s OS/2 install media would be a limited experience (to specific hardware).
I tried finding an 80486-based laptop, to be somewhat more period correct. While they do exist, they are very hard to find since just not many were ever made. Affordable CD-ROMs were starting to become available around 1994 for desktop systems (around the release of the games Myst and Phantasmagoria). But laptops were mostly intended for on-the-go portability and focused more on battery life.
While the minimum system requirements for OS/2 is a 386SX, even in the mid-1990s a 486 or better was strongly recommended.
I came across an IBM ThinkPad 385CD at a reasonable price. The model designator on ThinkPad’s of this era is a little nebulous. I’m not able to precisely determine how the 380 model differs from this 385. The “D” designator should mean CD-ROM (per IBM manuals), but I see no description about the “C” part of the designator. The label at the bottom indicates a “Type 2635” model.
CPU: Through the use of CPUCHK (here) I’ve confirmed it is an older Pentium CPU (not one with newer MMX support).
RAM: This particular 385CD has a base of “16 MB” on-board. I tried some 64MB PC-100 chips, but they won’t work. Only a 32MB chip worked, putting the system to 48MB RAM total.
DISK: The disk drive on this unit did not work. With a bit of hunting, I found a contact that was able to provide a replacement disk drive and CD-ROM. On this series of ThinkPad, the disk drive and CD-ROM appear as a single unit, but they are simply bolted to the same frame and are actually two separate components that can be replaced independently.
HDD: This ThinkPad came with a 6MB “mechanical” 2.5″ IDE disk drive. By “mechanical” that means it has a platter that physically spins. [ content TBD ] This drive is bolted into its own framing. Most ThinkPad models of this era seem to have included only 1MB to 3MB drive, so finding a 6MB drive seemed unusual and may be related to the “CD” model designator. I replaced this IDE drive with a mSATA to IDE adapter (which OS/2 did recognize the full partition of 2GB, giving roughly 1800MB of storage).
POWER: The battery, of course after this many years, does not work for this laptop. It took a while to find a compatible AC/DC wall adapter. [P/N TBD]
Set of drivers: OS/2 Site – Hardware – IBM – Thinkpad – TP380 (os2site.com) [ audio, NeoMagic video ]
Terminal software: OS/2 Site – Comm – Terminal (os2site.com)
SimCity 2000 for OS2: SimCity2000ForOS2 directory listing (archive.org)
LGR video about ThinkPad 380ED: $4,000 Laptop From 1997: Unboxing a NEW IBM ThinkPad 380ED! (youtube.com)
Real Mode CPU CHECK: CPU Identification utility (steunebrink.info)