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OS/2

Operating System

OS/2 is a personal computer operating system developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft beginning in 1985 and first released in December 1987, intended as a more capable successor to MS-DOS under IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci. It introduced protected mode and a graphical Presentation Manager interface to the PC platform, but the IBM and Microsoft partnership collapsed as Microsoft shifted its own effort to Windows, and OS/2 never won the mass desktop market despite outliving several of its 1990s rivals in niche embedded and ATM banking roles. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Year
1987 1
Significance
A pioneering IBM/Microsoft operating system that introduced protected mode and a graphical interface to the PC platform before losing the desktop market to Windows. 1
Status
Status
Discontinued 1
Classification
License
Proprietary (Closed Source) 2
FAQs

Why did IBM end up developing OS/2 alone?

A dispute over positioning OS/2 against Windows 3.1 led Microsoft to leave.

Microsoft and IBM first developed OS/2 together, but they disagreed over how to position OS/2 relative to Microsoft's new Windows 3.1 operating environment. Microsoft severed ties, and OS/2 2.0, released in 1992 as the first 32-bit version, was the first to be developed entirely by IBM.
Connections

In Field

Operating Systems, Fields

Licensed Under

Proprietary Software, Concepts

Long-Form Articles

Why IBM and Microsoft parted ways over OS/2, Articles
In the Other Atlases

Developed By

IBM

Also in Business Atlas: the developer of this subject.

Microsoft

Also in Business Atlas: the developer of this subject.

Sources
1. Wikipedia: OS/2
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section
    OS/2 (Operating System/2) is a discontinued proprietary computer operating system for x86 and PowerPC based personal computers created and initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft, under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci, intended as a replacement for DOS.
  • Wikipedia OS/2 infobox discontinued=yes
View the Source
2. Wikidata: OS/2
  • Wikidata Q189794, resolved via en.wikipedia pageprops (wave rule R-L)
  • Wikidata Q189794 P275 (license)
View the Source
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