IBM OS/2 WARP
Through ebay auction site bought a CDROM copy of OS/2 Warp version 3 for £10.00 this included the user guide and bonus pack CD, it will install on a 386SX33 with 4mb Ram, but would recommend a more powerful computer and a mouse makes installation easier. OS/2 is a multi-tasking operating sytem and anyone familier with Windows should have no difficulty navigating the graphical user interface (GUI)
Installation is straight forward, you have two floppy boot disks and the CD, if you do not have a CDROM then ask somebody with one to make a set of floppy disk images which will replace the bootdisk and CD. Install instructions are given on the screen, it is possible to install with DOS or Microsoft Windows, but have installed to a seperate partition on my hard drive, this entailed using the OS/2 hard drive partioning tool, but it is not very well explained for the novice, but when set up correctly you can have multiple operating systems installed, if you plan to use just OS/2 then you will use easy installation which involves no hard drive changes, after deciding where to install OS/2 it is best to accept defaults. After installation you are presented with the 'Introducing OS/2' tour window which is worth perusing, when this is closed you are presented with the graphical user interface screen, which is similar to Microsoft Windows 3.x, the next step is to read the comprehensive help file.
On the bonus pack CD are several applications, but feel the three worth installing are, WebExplorer, Multimedia Viewer and Works. Works is similar to a Lotus office suite with the usual word processor, spreadsheet and database programs. Mulitimedia viewer is similar to early versions of Microsoft Media Player, and is required for web browsing. WebExplorer is based on Netscape Communicator and gives basic internet browsing functions, once I was connected to the web via an external modem upgraded to Netscape Navigator 2.02 for OS/2 from IBM www.ibm.com, the home page by default is Netscape who will inform you that you need to upgrade, just change you home page. IBM do offer a later browser based on a Nescape product www.ibm.com, which can be downloade free.
OS/2 Warp is aimed at Business's, but as a standalone product it is extremely usable and can offer all the basic functions the majority of computer users need, but with the added bonus of being able to run a considerable amount DOS and Microsoft Windows software. If you require LAN connectivity then Warp Connect software is the easiest and though it is not cheap second-user, it can be located through the Ebay auction site usually from USA sellers, though I was fortunate to source a copy for £10.00.
Warp connect was easy to install accepting the defaults, though it had difficulty installing an SMC ethernet card, but a Dlink 220, which is NE2000 compatible posed no problems. When the installation is finished you have many options and for the novice can seem a bit bewildering, I managed to get a Windows NT4 computer to recognise the OS2 computer but have had difficulty to get OS2 to recognise NT4, also trying to use a Netscape Browser to access the internet via AnalogX proxy software on the NT4 has so far eluded me. Therefore due to commitments will re-evaluate this at a later date.
Apple Macintosh
Over the past two decades Apple have produced many different models, pre 1998 model's are classed as legacy and include multimedia/networking software, and can be bought second-user for prices comparable to standard IBM compatable computers. Legacy model details at www.apple.com, later models are more compatible to DOS/Windows computer's and due to cost would consider them outside the scope of this webpage
I acquired a Quadra 610 base unit with an updated 1gig SCSI hard drive and SCSI CD Drive, the Epson Stylus 600 printer has a built-in Mac serial interface and the purchase of a suitable serial cable enabled printing, PC monitors can be used and purchasing a suitable connector/adapter a 14" PC monitor gave a sreen resolution of 640x480 whilst a 15" gave a resolution of 800x600. Purchasing a second-user Mac AAUI to RJ45 convertor and RJ45 crossover cable was able to connect to a Windows NT4/9x PC, though would not communicate as they use different networking software to implement the TCP/IP protocol.
After searching the internet came across a software program PCMaclan which is installed on a Windows PC and enables TCP/IP compatibility, after installing the Demostration version, on a PC with both Windows NT4 and 9x installed, and reading the excellent user guide was able to achieve basic peer-to-peer networking. I then installed MS Internet Explorer version 3beta on the Mac but when tried to share an internet connection via a Windows 98SE PC utilizing Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) it would not work due to the Mac not recognizing "socks" protocol, having previously used AnalogX proxy server on Windows PC's was aware that it can turn off the "socks" protocol and achieved a shared internet connection, using the following settings;
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AnalogX Proxy Server
Windows TCP/IP
MAC TCP
MAC TCP
MAC TCP (more)
MAC TCP (more)
MAC Network
IE3 browser http proxy
IE3 browser ftp proxy
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Disable 'Socks' in Configuration
address 192.168.000.001
set to Ethernet connection
address 192.168.000.011
obtain address manually
gateway address 192.168.000.001
set to Ethernet (built-in)
set to 192.168.000.001 - port: 6588
set to 192.168.000.001 - port: 21
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AnalogX should be compatible with all flavours of Windows but this set-up is not stable and amongst the difficulties is logging-on and downloading files, as Mac compatible files when downloaded from the internet via a Windows PC need re-compiling with MacDisk software so the Mac can read them. To purchase the full versions of the MacLan and MacDisk software far outweighs the value of the Quadra.
Have now bought a LC475 base unit, monitor, Stylus II printer and various software, and now have two working base units, both with operating system v7.5 and Internet Explorer has been updated to version 4. Direct cable connection via a Mac printer serial cable is standard, therefore able to share software and a standard Mac Stylus II non-colour printer between the two Mac's.
Due to pre-installed software on both computers much of which had no original copy, have download the free British version 7.5.3 operating system for the Quadra and version 7.0.1 for the LC from Apple. Mac's have a software programme PC Exchange which can read PC 3.5 floppies therefore all the downloads 20+disks were on a Windows PC. I firstly performed a new install, leaving existing software as was, but eventually have undertaken a complete re-install on both computers which has saved considerable hard drive space.
After installing the later operating system on the Quadra, changed the TCP/IP configuration manager to Open Transport (termed TCP/IP), which is a substantial update of the default MacTCP, and easier to configure, I still required an internet connection and as I had problems connecting to computers installed with Windows NT4/9x, felt that Windows XP Professional may bring results as it has been written with Universal Plug & Play networking built in and logically should be connectable to Apple Macs. I set up internet connection sharing (ICS) on the Windows XP computer, Internet Explorer v4 (68000) on the Quadra and first tried static IP addressing, then tried using the Proxy settings in IE4 to look for my XP computer and various different setings with no results. As a last resort I set the Mac TCP/IP setting to connect via "Ethernet" and the configuration to "Using DHCP Server", and surprisingly it works, though the download speed is slower than my IBM 486DX33, but does work and is stable, and so far all downloaded files have not been corrupted. I do not have a LAN set-up with the XP computer, just using a RJ45 crossover cable to link the two computers for the purpose of directing the internet connection, though could set-up HTTP/FTP file sharing, as IE4 has Personal Web Server software included in the package.