2 Jan
2008
2 Jan
'08
1:18 p.m.
Guy Sotomayor wrote:
Folks, there was *no* OS/2 for anything other than the
x86 and the PPC.
I was on one of the early IBM task forces for the definition of what was
to become OS/2 (they didn't listen to me but then that's another story)
so I think I can say with some authority what was going on.
That is what I thought. Thanks for the clarification.
The x86 kernel code was all written in assembler.
Hell even the
interfaces were defined as x86 structures with x86 registers.
The PPC code was based upon the Workplace OS project (of which I am
*intimately* familiar being one of the original 6 people at IBM on the
project). The PPC version shared almost no code with the x86 version of
OS/2.
Its amazing though how OS/2 PPC looks and feels just like Warp3. Its a
shame it was never finished, but seeing the following I understand why IBM
decided to pull the plug.
For those counting, Workplace OS consumed something on the order of 600+
engineers and $2 Billion over the course of 4 years.
And that was back when a billion dollars was worth something. This is more
than I had heard before, but I suppose it depends on what people consider
included in the development and from when. Wasn't Taligent started to work
on that project?
So there was no possibility of OS/2 being "ported" to the PDP-11. It
just wasn't possible.
OS/2 PPC is still an amazing piece of work.
Mark
--
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