The Operating System Problem.

     Have you ever wondered to yourself if there's anything else out there beyond Windows '95 and the upcoming "engine of destruction" known as Memphis?  Well, wonder no longer!  Below is a quick take on a few operating systems and things you can do to make your PC do what you want it to.

DOS 6.22 and Windows 3.11: Back to Basics

     The easiest alternative of all is actually just DOS and Windows 3.11.  Sure, you will find yourself hunting for older versions of some applications, but the reality is that most pre-win95 applications can do all of the neat things that their newer and shinier win95 versions will do.  You also get the raw power of DOS when you don't need Windows.  There is something to be said for the basic design of DOS, and version 6.22 is actually laden with help for the inexperienced user.  You may also find that certain older, and extremely picky, games will only function under a real incarnation of DOS.  Perhaps this will be one of the fixes that Microsoft's 'Memphis' will produce.  You will lose the 255 character filename convention, but you will find that there is much less overhead with DOS.  Applications that run this way are quite speedy in execution, especially on the higher-end Pentium class machines.

     You will also find that drivers for DOS and Windows 3.11 are still quite common, even cutting edge hardware bothers to provide some drivers for DOS.  While win95 is the OS of choice, there are a lot of legacy systems out there.  You will also find that driver management can be a headache when you start adding in a bunch of drivers at once.  Managing low memory becomes a hassle.  I have found that the main culprits are CD-ROM drivers and network cards.  Sometimes it's easier to disable rarely used devices that hog memory space and load them on a 'need to use' basis.  I use this approach with my network drivers at work.  I load everything up but the five chunks of driver software that will enable me to use TCP/IP and Netware 4.0.  The good news is that I can load 4 of those five drivers high;  the fifth driver will only function in low memory.  The bad news is that there is not a whole lot of memory left for me to toss things like smartdrive and doskey in highmem.

     This is an unlikely case for those of you using a stand-alone PC at home, but it is good to be aware that you chew up high memory at an alarming rate.

OS/2 Warp 4: Lots Of Power, But Not For The Novice

     So, you want something other than the legacy of "big bad" Bill Gates?  Okay, try "Big Blue's" OS offering: OS/2 Warp4 on for size.  It features the ability to effectively emulate DOS, with a maximum of 640kBytes of low memory.  I am also under the impression that IBM bought a licence to copy the code from Windows 3.11 to provide flawless emulation of windows applications.  Also included is Java support and a separate CD chock full of OS/2 driver software.  OS/2 also boasts a slightly more 'bulletproof' operation over it's competitors.  This is IBM's impression of win'95 in a lot of areas, but it does not seem to like executing win95 software.  OS/2 provides the raw power and easy-access that win'95 falls short on.  I especially like the ability to tailor my DOS/Windows application to specific needs.  If I need exclusive use of the COM ports, there's a switch.  If I need 8 megs of EMS, 8 megs of XMS, and I have enough physical RAM OS/2 can do it.  Mind you, I'm not even touching on the voicetype package that is a must see.

     What consistently poses a problem with OS/2 is it's lack of drivers for various hardware.  Diamond Multimedia had me throwing my arms up in disgust with thier lack of support for OS/2 Warp4.  When I installed the driver for Warp3, as they instructed me to do, it would crash OS/2 if I switched to any text-based video mode and tried to come back to the desktop.  I had to find drivers for IOmega's Jaz drive on the included driver CD.  IOmega wanted to charge me $10 or so for a driver that should have been included.

    OS/2 provides a lot of power, but is definitely not for the faint of heat, or short of temper.

LINUX The Poor Man's UNIX Box

     I have not experimented with LINUX, but I can tell you a bit about what it is.  LINUX is a freeware incarnation of UNIX.  If you feel a bit nervous about how OS/2 works, LINUX is hell on wheels.  On the other hand, if you have the desire to learn about the ins and outs of UNIX, this is an excellent route to take.  I also think emulation software exists for most legacy (DOS/Windows) applications.

Any Better Ideas?

     Yes.  Run more than one operating system.  Maintain sanity by running what you like and experiment with your 'untested' OS.  OS/2 comes with a boot manager program that lets you do just that.  There is also a program called "Partition Magic" that you can buy off the shelf.  For the average user I would suggest running DOS 6.22 and win'95 on your system.  This approach may also come in handy if you encounter problems installing the upcoming Microsoft 'Memphis'.  In a worst case scenario ,you can just kill the failed partition and attempt to re-install again, while your programs and data are safe and sound on another partition of the same hard drive.

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