OS/2 Applications Benchmark

Looking for a way to benchmark applications running on OS/2? Try the Beta version of OS/2 Applications Benchmark (OS2Bench), available on your accompanying Developer Connection for OS/2 CD-ROMs. This package includes the files you need to benchmark a set of scenarios, represented by scripts, for OS/2, DOS, and Windows applications. The four examples included on your CD-ROMs are DeScribe, IBM C++, Paintbrush, and Program Manager. You can also create your own scripts for these or your own applications.

Under OS2Bench, the scripts can be run sequentially or two to four scripts can be run concurrently, thus emulating OS/2 multitasking.

OS2Bench provides a user interface that simplifies testing with an easy and consistent way to add and remove your application benchmark scenarios. It automatically generates test results and stores them in a file with the machine configuration information.

The benchmark program, as well as applications, can reside on any disk partition. This approach is a complete departure from other benchmark packages, where all files must be on the same partition--you can move applications from one partition to another to compare test results between FAT and HPFS partitions.

OS2Bench does not take full control of your system when it runs, so other activity in the OS/2 multitasking environment during the benchmark testing will influence the results. So, as with any benchmarking program, be sure you are comparing apples to apples when you gather and compare your test results. Used properly, this tool can really help you measure the effects of changes in your code and identify true performance improvements.