If you prefer the standard OS/2 File Open Dialog, or perhaps a different replacement than the File Open Container provided with ArcaOS by default, you may easily switch back.
To disable FOC and switch back to the original OS/2 file open dialog:
- Open an OS/2 command prompt.
- Change to the \sys\INSTALL\FOC directory on the boot volume.
- Type “filedlgtofocdlg /U” and press <Enter>.
- Restart the system.
To reenable FOC (any previous settings should be restored):
- Open an OS/2 command prompt.
- Change to the \sys\INSTALL\FOC directory on the boot volume.
- Type “filedlgtofocdlg /I” and press <Enter>.
- Restart the system.
Some applications may not be fully compatible with the new File Open Container in ArcaOS. To exclude them, or to make other system-wide adjustments to this component, open the Workplace Shell object in the System Setup folder and access the FOC tab. Exceptions may be entered on the second page.
Please see this page in the ArcaOS wiki.
As delivered from our server, ArcaOS will install from a single DVD, the mounted ISO file itself (for a virtual machine), from a local (FAT) disk partition, or from a USB stick (flash drive). (See this wiki page for more detailed information.) There is no facility provided with ArcaOS or available from Arca Noae to produce floppy diskette images of the DVD content suitable for installation, or to split the DVD content down into pieces suitable for installation from CD-ROM.
While support for connecting floppy disk drives is still included with ArcaOS as part of the IBM OS/2 Warp 4 component, no effort has been expended to make ArcaOS installable from such media.
Keep in mind that while IBM’s OS/2 offerings were installable from floppy disk, that was quite some time ago, for a product much smaller in overall size than ArcaOS.
If you have a need for special installation media, we suggest you contact one of our partners to see about a solution.
Yes.
ArcaOS runs OS/2 applications natively because it is OS/2. Your favorite, classic OS/2 applications, such as Lotus Smartsuite, Mesa/2, dbExpert, Relish, Describe, and so forth install and should run under ArcaOS just as they installed and ran under classic OS/2 Warp 4 – only better.
ArcaOS provides better memory management and hardware support for newer systems than OS/2 Warp 4. This means that applications which may have been somewhat “resource constrained” on older systems are now “set free” under ArcaOS to realize their full performance potential.
Be productive again. Put that great software in which you invested years ago back to good use.
Yes.
ArcaOS includes both Classic REXX and Object REXX. Because the core component in ArcaOS is OS/2 Warp 4.52, REXX applications written to run under OS/2 should work as they always have.
ArcaOS includes a robust Unix compatibility subsystem. This subsystem is built around a component known as kLIBC, which is itself a project hosted at OS/2 Netlabs. kLIBC provides rudimentary symbolic link support for applications built with the kLIBC gcc compiler. These applications are generally ported from Linux, and when built from source using the gcc compiler, become native OS/2 applications, with some added benefits, among them being symbolic link (symlink) support.
It is important to note that not all such gcc-compiled applications support use of symbolic links, although with just the base kLIBC components installed, it is possible to create symlinks for any file accessible by the operating system. While symlinks may be created, it is up to the specific application or command processor (shell) as to whether they are read and interpreted as symlinks or merely text files.
ArcaOS (and essentially, any other OS/2 distribution capable of using the libc06* DLLs) supports symbolic links, or symlinks. A symlink is implemented by creating a small text file in the directory where the link is located that contains the path to the target file, and then marking that file as a symlink file by creating a special extended attribute (EA) attached to that file. To any ordinary OS/2 program, the symlink file looks just like an ordinary text file. But to libc/kLIBC programs it is a link to a different target file. It is important to remember not to strip the SYMLINK EA off of a symlink file or you will break the symlink functionality. Without the SYMLINK EA, the file will look like a regular text file even to libc/kLIBC programs instead of linking to the target file.
See this wiki page for more information on symlinks in ArcaOS and the Unix compatibility subsystem, in general.
OS/2 has been around for a long time, and one of the great strengths of the platform is a strong user-to-user community of professionals and power users willing to assist in solving problems and giving quality advice.
Several good places exist on the internet, depending upon the type of information desired and one’s preferred method of communication (mailing list, newsgroup, or forum). Here is a sampling of links to get started:
OS/2 VOICE (see the Resources menu)
OS/2 World (see the forums)
eComStation mailing list at Yahoo! Groups
eCS-Technical mailing list at Yahoo! Groups
There is an excellent selection of Hebrew fonts linked from this page. These are free to download, install, and use. We have plans to package a number of these fonts either for inclusion with ArcaOS or for downloading from one of our software repositories.
ArcaOS may be installed using any of the following methods:
- Bootable DVD, created by burning the downloaded ISO with suitable software from any operating system.
- Mounting the ISO file directly, which is generally suitable for installing in a virtual machine under VirtualBox, VirtualPC, or another hypervisor.
- Bootable USB flash drive, created either using the separate creation utility and image from OS/2, Linux, OSX, or Windows, or from an existing OS/2 installation (Warp 4 FP13 or above) using the included AOSBOOT utility.
- Local hard drive partition, using the included AOSBOOT utility, from an existing OS/2 installation on the same system (Warp 4 FP13 or above, and 2GB free space on the drive – HDD or SSD – for the partition).
More information is available in the ArcaOS wiki.