This is interesting. I run eCS in a Virtual PC 2007 setup both on my
workstation at work and on my Vista laptop at home. Plus I run a machine
dedicated to eCS that runs my mail server (running ZxMail) at home. So,
needless to say, I am quite happy with the software.
After talking to a co-worker tonight, he is becoming more and more
interested in moving all his servers over from Windows to eCS/OS2 :)
"Bob St.John" <BStJohn@Serenity-Systems.com> wrote in message
news:c1.2b8.2w7DW9$01A@news.ecomstation.com...
> Steve Mechling wrote:
>> Bob:
>>
>> I agree, it is highly amusing when people say that OS/2 is 'dead.'
>
> Interesting .. all these POS applications. I think SEARS is still
"there".
> And a recent order for a volume of eComStation licenses was from a drug
> store chain which had just completed an acquisition and needed to OS/2
> licenses.
>
> In speaking with the consultant who supported them, the key reason he
> stays on OS/2 is the ability to remotely manage the terminals and network.
>
> My remains, not that OS/2 is still in use, but OS/2 is still ordered as a
> "new" license. Not simply updating an existing OS/2 box.
>
> Regards,
> Bob St.John
> Serenity Systems International
>>
>> I was in Wal-Mart the other day and there was a power failure here in
>> Colorado Springs.
>> Several of the IBM POS stations rebooted because the UPS system failed
to
>> hold power fast enough.
>>
>> The customer touchpad acted like a normal screen when it rebooted, so I
>> was
>> pleasantly surprised to see
>> that Wal-Mart was still using OS/2. It said it was 'Wal-Mart build
>> 5.61.'
>> It ran its JFS check and
>> restored the POS station right to the middle of the checkout process.
It
>> still had all my previous groceries
>> which had been rung up so far!! Same thing with the other 8 checkout
>> stations which were open. I was extremely
>> impressed.
>>
>> I then went up the street to Walgreens and was chatting with the
manager
>> about the brief power outage.
>> I knew him fairly well, so I asked him what Operating System his IBM
POS
>> stations was using. He said it
>> was OS/2! Business was slow, so he even let me re-boot a POS station
>> back
>> in the camera department. It
>> said it was a custom Walgreens build, version 5.5 or something like
that.
>>
>> A local grocery chain called King Soopers (owned by Kroeger) also runs
>> OS/2
>> with some very slick modifications.
>> Each POS station has a 15" flat screen aimed at the customer. It
is
>> split
>> into three windows. One is a DOS - looking
>> display which shows each item as it is scanned, one is a GUI window
>> showing
>> the specials of the week, and the
>> third window usually has Public Service stuff -- although I've even
seen
>> it
>> playing videos at what looks like
>> about 20 frames per second. It's obvious that there has been a lot of
>> custom work done on that build. And it never
>> hiccups - the multi-tasking/multi-threading works like a champ.
>>
>> Anyway, I hope this gets the message across to people that a LOT of
>> outfits
>> are still using OS/2. If all the
>> big chain stores are using OS/2 for their POS stations, then worldwide
>> there
>> must be tens of thousands of
>> OS/2 clients operating. And I'm not even including the major
financial
>> groups like Shanghai Bank of China, Bank of Brazil,
>> CitiGroup, Fireman's Fund, etc.
>>
>> And I know from a friend who used to work for an IT firm which
consulted
>> to
>> Wal-Mart that they did a head-to-
>> head competition a number of years ago comparing Windows with OS/2. He
>> said
>> that the results weren't
>> even close - OS/2 thrashed Windows in every major category - stability,
>> ease
>> of installation, troubleshooting, etc.
>> Programming support was not big problem either - most of the stuff was
in
>> C++, COBOL, or JAVA. He said
>> that JAVA applets were being used more and more to display ads to the
>> customer.
>>
>> I could give you some more examples, but I don't want to get too
>> long-winded. :)
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> -Steve
>> www.colorado.cyberwize.com
>> _____________________________________________________
>>
>> Bob St.John <BStJohn@Serenity-Systems.com> wrote in message
>> news:c1.2b8.2w6vBt$01A@news.ecomstation.com...
>>
>>>As a matter of fact, yes.
>>>
>>>Someone on USENET made the remark that no one is buying OS/2. The
>>>"market", according to this person, is simply OS/2 users
buying the new
>>>support agreements (re-instatements and renewals of existing
contracts).
>>>
>>>I actually laughed out loud when I read it, because I know better.
In
>>>fact, as it is the end of the 1Q05, I had been collecting
information
>>>for a series of reports. But the remark caused me to take a look at
just
>>>how many "new" versus "upgrades" .. and the
result. Surprisingly close.
>>>
>>>The figures I was working with are the revenue to be reported to
IBM.
>>>The number one revenue item? New licenses. Of course, a new license
is
>>>more money than an upgrade .. so there were more upgrades than new
>>>licenses. But, from IBM's point of view .. it's about revenue.
>>>
>>>In line with this, my standard response to folks who ask about the
>>>future of eComStation is, "there will be an eComStation as long
as it
>>>makes good business sense". The good news is, eComStation
continues to
>>>be a good business, so it will be around for awhile, yet. :-)
>>>
>>>In fact, the user support is enabling me to continue to make
significant
>>>investments in the product. Thank you, all, for your continued
support.
>>>
>>>Regards,
>>>Bob St.John
>>>Serenity Systems International
>>
>>
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