(7) What hardware do I need to run IBM OS/2 2.0? Do I need a PS/2? […]
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(7) What hardware do I need to run IBM OS/2 2.0? Do I need a PS/2?
You need any PC, PC compatible, PS/1, or PS/2 with at least an 80386SX
CPU, 4 MB (6 MB or more strongly recommended) of RAM (configured as 640K
base plus the remainder as extended memory, with at least 3968K total
RAM after system use), a 60 MB or larger hard disk (with 15-30 MB free),
a supported video adapter (CGA, EGA, VGA, 8514/A, XGA, or third party
driver) with appropriate display, and a high density 3.5 or 5.25 inch
floppy drive for installation. A mouse or other pointing device is
strongly recommended. Allow extra RAM and hard disk space for OS/2-
based networking, ES/2, and/or extra system loads (i.e. an extraordinary
number of large applications running simultaneously). When calculating
hard disk space requirements, subtract space occupied by files already
on the hard disk which are functionally included in OS/2 2.0 and may be
deleted, e.g. DOS, a 386 memory manager, Windows, Adobe Type Manager
with base typefaces, etc.
The WPS will not operate with the Monochrome Display Adapter or the
Hercules Monochrome Graphics Adapter. Usually the WPS will fail to work
with monochrome EGA. However, some EGA adapters (e.g. Paradise
Monochrome EGA Card, ATI EGA Wonder) will emulate all color EGA modes on
TTL monochrome monitors and, thus, will work with the WPS.
On (E)ISA bus machines, OS/2 specifically supports hard drive adapters
which conform to the Western Digital chipset interface standard (i.e.
nearly all MFM, RLL, IDE, and ESDI adapters) and Adaptec, Future Domain,
and IBM SCSI adapters. In addition, "generic" INT13 support is provided
for all other hard disk adapters. This "generic" support even embraces
such devices as Iomega's Bernoulli and SyQuest's removeable media
products. CD-ROM support is included as well. At present the OS/2 CD-
ROM driver does not work with all brands, but the DOS device drivers,
when suitably configured and installed, will still provide CD-ROM
services to DOS/Windows programs. Printer and plotter support is
discussed in Question 12.
Version 2.0 is explicitly supported on PC compatibles. IBM is offering
a money back compatibility guarantee in the United States. Should OS/2
2.0 fail to work on your compatible within the first 90 days of use, and
should IBM be unable to fix the problem, your purchase price will be
refunded. To date over 200 non-IBM models have been tested in IBM's own
labs.