OS/2

	This is the JargonFile ^(V4.00) entry for OS/2 - Next: OSU, Prev: OS
:OS/2: /O S too/ /n./ The anointed successor to MS-DOS for Intel 286- and 386-based micros; proof that IBM/Microsoft couldnt get it right the second time, either. Often called Half-an-OS. Mentioning it is usually good for a cheap laugh among hackers --- the design was so baroque, and the implementation of 1.x so bad, that 3 years after introduction you could still count the major apps shipping for it on the fingers of two hands -- in unary. The 2.x versions are said to have improved somewhat, and informed hackers now rate them superior to Microsoft Windows (an endorsement which, however, could easily be construed as damning with faint praise). See monstrosity, cretinous, second-system effect.
* (text is auto-included via JargonExtension by mutante using jargon with VERSION 4.0.0, 24 JUL 1996 - JargonFile by Eric S. Raymond is in the public domain)