I had read that OS/2 Warp was considered a pretty good OS technically, though I don't remember the details now, as to what made it an improvement over Windows. I remember that PC Quest, an Indian PC magazine, gave out OS/2 Warp on a CD [1] in one issue.
[1] They often bundled a CD with lots of free software with their magazine issues, e.g. different distros of Linux, server software, utilities, etc. All free or trial software, usually. I remember they bundled the QNX OS once, and I installed it and tried it on my PC. It was very light and fast, had a GUI too - Photon, IIRC. They might even have bundled BeOS once. I think I tried installing that too, but it did not work on my PC.
OS/2 2.1 was a contemporary of Windows 3.0. Unlike Windows 3.x, it had preemptive multitasking and process memory isolation. It also had a nice-for-the-time GUI called Workplace Shell which was much nicer than Windows 3.x's Program Manager. It was very good at running DOS software, letting you make all of those config.sys/autoexec.bat tweaks on a per-program basis.
OS/2 3.0 (Warp) came out a couple of months before Windows 95. Compared to Windows 95, it was much more stable, but lacked compatibility for Win32 programs.
OS/2 was to go along with the PS/2. A update on the PC platform that was much more bespoke IBM compared to the largely assembled from off the shelf parts that was the PC/AT.
>OS/2 existed for quite a while before Warp came about.
>OS/2 was to go along with the PS/2. A update on the PC platform that was much more bespoke IBM compared to the largely assembled from off the shelf parts that was the PC/AT.
Yes, I was aware of those points, that Warp was a late or last version of OS/2 and that IBM tried to make the PC architecture closed with the PS/2 line - after it being originally open with the PC (which was what led to its success as a platform, due to the adoption and all the clones and extension cards and software for it). Had read about it. That doesn't change the fact that Warp had good reviews. Didn't try it out personally though.
[1] They often bundled a CD with lots of free software with their magazine issues, e.g. different distros of Linux, server software, utilities, etc. All free or trial software, usually. I remember they bundled the QNX OS once, and I installed it and tried it on my PC. It was very light and fast, had a GUI too - Photon, IIRC. They might even have bundled BeOS once. I think I tried installing that too, but it did not work on my PC.