Taking Off with OS/2 Warp
This Special Edition of The Developer Connection for OS/2 brings you the newest addition to the OS/2 family - OS/2 Warp, Version 3 and its accompanying Developer's Toolkit. So, this Special Edition of The Developer Connection News brings you articles from some of the folks that were part of the development effort for this new product. But first, here's a birds-eye view of the newest member of OS/2's family.
Why OS/2 Warp, Version 3?
Targeting the home, education, entertainment, and office user, this version of the OS/2 operating system takes all the function available in OS/2 2.1, refines it, and makes it available on a low-memory system for entry users. This opens a whole new world for application developers providing you with a wider market in which to offer your products. The remainder of this article provides you with a high-level description of some of the new features that you might want your OS/.2 Warp, Version 3 applications to take advantage of.
Workplace Shell Enhancements
Besides the obvious visual differences made to this new version of OS/2 (such as new animated icons and color mini-icons), many other Workplace Shell enhancements were made.
Launching Objects
Most notable on the desktop is the launch pad, which provides access to frequently used objects. You can use it to open objects with a single click or to perform common system functions, such as lockup, shutdown, find, and raise window list. The drawers contained on the launch pad are a good place to store your less frequently used objects.
Pick Up and Drop
An enhancement to "Drag and Drop", this new feature lets you drag objects without having to hold down the mouse button. While dragging objects across your desktop on the pointer, you can double click to open the folder into which these objects are to be dropped. Then when you're ready to drop the object, press the right mouse button to cause the Drop conditional cascade to appear. Select your choice of "drop operations": Drop, Copy, Move, or Create a Shadow. You can still perform most system functions during a "Pick Up and Drop".
Option to Save Current Desktop Settings
This new feature lets you save your current desktop and folder settings through the Desktop page of the Desktop Settings notebook. When you turn off the Save Desktop Settings, you:
- Force the current open folders and desktop to save their window and icon positions
- Prevent any future saving of folder and desktop window and icon position information
- Restrict your system startup to the list of objects and programs that are started at that instant
Archive and Restore Desktop
This new feature lets you archive and restore your desktop and any key files. This is particularly useful when using a multiconfiguration environment (such as a mobile PC). When you restart the system, you can select which CONFIG.SYS file to start the system with. Activate this feature using the Archive page of the Desktop Settings notebook.
Comet Cursor
This new feature lets you change pointer sets. While this might seem like a relatively minor enhancement, think of what this means to a mobile user. You can now get larger pointers or even pointers of different shapes. And, if your display just happens to be monochrome (as many mobile PCs are), simply reverse the color of your pointer. This simple change can make navigation on your Workplace Shell easier.
And More
Many other Workplace Shell enhancements were made including new menu choices for Undo arrange and Open parent, automatic closing of a folder, and the ability to add new user-defined types on the Type page of the Settings notebook of a data file object. Confirming the delete action for individual objects, preventing folders from rising when starting a drag operation, and a completely rewritten Find and Include are also all part of our new OS/2 Warp, Version 3 operating system.
Plug and Play for PCMCIA
Besides all of the new Workplace Shell enhancements, another new and exciting feature of OS/2 Warp, Version 3 is its ability to handle plug and play function. This function lets you take "hot pluggable" PCMCIA cards and hot plug them as you're using the system. For example, you can pop your PCMCIA modem card in and out, without powering down, changing the card, rebooting, and loading the device driver. You can continue to use your system - the cards get automatically configured and initialized.
New Installation
A lot of work went into the installation, making the OS/2 Warp, Version 3 operating system easier to install than OS/2 Version 2.1. You now have an option to select Easy Install. Once you do this, you are simply asked to either feed diskettes, or the system will read off the CD-ROM, until the installation is complete. And unlike OS/2 Version 2.1, after one boot in OS/2 Warp, Version 3, you will be brought to a minimum Workplace Shell system (maintenance desktop). Then you can continue to install such items as the command reference, productivity programs, fonts, and printer drivers. If you have a problem after the first boot, you always have the maintenance desktop that you can fall back on.
But Wait, There's More
The OS/2 Warp, Version 3 operating system brings to you many enhancements, but this article simply touched on some of the most visible. Some functions that were not mentioned are the new Workplace Shell methods, the SOM 2.x enhancements, and the new options on the resource compiler and linker. The Developer's Toolkit for OS/2 Warp, Version 3 has also been enhanced.
Some of the enhancements and changes are described in this Special Edition of The Developer Connection News; some will be covered in later issues. So go ahead, install this new addition to our family on your PC, and shift into hyperdrive!