User:CrustyCaverns/sandbox/OS/2 Warp 4

OS/2 Warp 4.0

Developer	IBM
Written in	C, C++, and Assembly
OS family	IBM OS/2
Working state	Historical
Source model	Closed-source
Preceded by	OS/2 Warp 3
Succeeded by	ArcaOS

OS/2 Warp 4 is an operating system released by IBM in 1996. It is the final release in the OS/2 line of operating systems.

History

In August 1985, IBM and Microsoft signed the "Joint Development Agreement", which allowed the two corporations to develop an operating system titled CP/DOS, which released in 1987. CP/DOS would become OS/2 1.0 in April of 1987. OS/2 1.1 was the first to add a graphical interface to OS/2. Later, the two companies parted ways in 1990 between Windows 3.0 and OS/2 1.3. Microsoft repurposed a large amount of the OS/2 codebase for their own operating system, Windows NT 3.1. IBM would go on to release OS/2 2.0 in 1992 for 32-bit systems, featuring Windows 3.0 and DOS compatibility. OS/2 Warp 3.0 is the first to use the "Warp" name, with broader hardware support, more multimedia features, and the IBM Works office suite. It came in both a Red Spine and Blue Spine version, the Red Spine version requiring you to provide your own Windows install for WIN OS/2 emulation, while the Blue Spine version includes it by default.

OS/2 Warp 4 released in 1996, alongside server versions of Warp 3 and itself. A UK demo version of the operating system was very easily (sometimes, even accidentally) cracked, leading to larger adoption. Australian Personal Computer magazine included a full CD-ROM Warp 4, effectively constituting a free release, alongside several other software CDs. It also added Java support and speech recognition technology. The operating system was released to good critical reception, being called a viable replacement for Windows 95. However, Windows eventually became the dominant home operating system.

See Also

• IBM
• OS/2
• Microsoft
• Windows NT