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0.9b (c) 1995 Peter Childs 0.9b (c) 1995 Peter Childs
The following terms are often used in conjunction with OS/2 Warp:
Term Definition
APAR A bug fix which has been (or will be) created by IBM to
address a very specific problem. (Example: "Please
send me APAR 09761.")
ASPI Adaptec SCSI Programming Interface: a standard set of
services used by backup, scanning, and other types of
software which require access to a SCSI adapter. OS/2
Warp comes with ASPI support for DOS, Windows, and OS/2
applications.
BonusPak Free, full fledged applications included with OS/2 Warp
at no extra charge. The BonusPak includes HyperAccess,
Faxworks, Person to Person, the Internet Connection,
Compuserve Information Manager, Video IN, IBM Works,
and other applications. These applications not only
demonstrate how powerful and easy-to-use OS/2 Warp
really is, but they also let you get to work (or play!)
right out-of-the-box.
CID "Configuration/Installation/Distribution": a term
usually used to refer to the ability to install an
operating system or application remotely, over a
network. (Example: "IBM TCP/IP 2.0 for OS/2 is now
CID-enabled.") See (4.2) Installing from Drive B.
CSD "Corrective Service Diskette(s)": see (4.6) Corrective
Service Diskettes.
DASD "Direct Access Storage Device": disk space (most
commonly a hard disk drive). (Example: "I do not have
enough DASD for this new application.")
DCE "Distributed Computing Environment": an open software
standard, created by the Open Software Foundation and
backed by IBM and other vendors, which allows for
applications to operate across a network and distribute
the workload without a significant investment in
programming. DCE supports common directory services
(for accessing resources on a network), security (for
preventing unauthorized or runaway applications from
wreaking havoc on a network), and other management
features. OS/2 Warp is a key platform for DCE, and IBM
produces the most advanced implementations of DCE
available on the market.
DMA "Direct Memory Access": circuitry provided on all PCs
to allow peripherals (such as disk controllers) to
transfer data to memory directly, without the
assistance of the computer's processor. Appropriate
use of DMA can often help to improve overall system
performance.
DPMI "DOS Protected Mode Interface: a method used by some
DOS applications (including Windows) to access memory
beyond 640K on 80286 (or later) processors. OS/2 Warp
can provide DPMI memory to DOS and Windows
applications. See EMS and XMS.
EA "Extended Attribute": up to 64K of assorted data stored
with any file under OS/2. Such data may include file
type (e.g. "Plain Text"), icons, comments, and other
information which is best left outside the file itself.
Only OS/2 applications can create and modify extended
attributes.
EMS "Expanded Memory Specification": one of several types
of memory (beyond 640K) that can be used by certain DOS
applications. OS/2 Warp can provide EMS memory to DOS
applications. See DPMI and XMS.
ES "Extended Services": see (3.10) Extended Services.
FAT "File Allocation Table": the disk format introduced by
DOS. See HPFS.
GA "General Availability": available for purchase as a
shrinkwrapped product from IBM and its dealers.
HPFS "High Performance File System": see (1.5) High
Performance File System.
IFS "Installable File System": refers to an OS/2 driver
used to manage a file system type. Available IFSes
include NFS (used with TCP/IP networks), CD-ROM, HPFS,
and HPFS386 (supplied with IBM LAN Server Advanced).
IPL "Initial Program Load": starting a PC's operating
system (i.e. booting or rebooting). (Example: "Please
IPL your system now.") See also RIPL.
ISV "Independent Software Vendor": a software developer,
other than the provider of the operating system (such
as IBM and OS/2), which produces applications for that
operating system (e.g. Borland is an OS/2 ISV,
producing Borland C++ for OS/2).
LA "Limited Availability": available only from IBM to
certain customers.
multitasking Running two or more applications "simultaneously,"
dividing the computer processor's attention among them.
(In fact, the two or more applications only appear to
run simultaneously because the processor switches
between them rapidly.) Cooperative multitasking, such
as that found in Microsoft Windows and Macintosh System
7, requires that each application be written so as to
"surrender" the computer's processor at regular
intervals so that it can devote attention to other
running applications. If one application for some
reason refuses to yield the processor, all other
applications stop running. Preemptive multitasking, as
found in OS/2 and Unix, for example, leaves the
operating system in charge of delegating processor time
to each running application. The amount of attention
given depends on the operating system's scheduler, the
logic which assesses (and perhaps adjusts) the
priorities of various tasks and assigns processor
attention accordingly.
multithreading An operating system's ability to manage what are
sometimes called lightweight processes, namely subtasks
which are spawned by applications. For example, a word
processor may be written so that any printing operation
is put in a separate thread. This thread is then run
alongside the word processor itself, in the background,
so that control returns immediately to the user of the
word processor. OS/2 1.0 was the first major operating
system to support threads. See multitasking.
object The basic unit of interaction in OS/2 Warp. In some
environments, such as Windows, users work only with
files. In other environments, such as the Macintosh,
users work with documents and applications. In OS/2
Warp, users work with objects (of which files and
documents are but two types). OS/2 is easy to use
because objects are generally not restricted in the
ways they can be used based on computer-oriented
restrictions (such as the length of names for objects).
Rather, objects can be treated in very similar ways
when using OS/2, with differences related to more human
ideas of how things behave. For example, in OS/2 Warp
every object (including the desktop itself, which is a
folder-type object) has a pop-up menu, brought up with
a click of the second mouse button. Printer objects
have unique menu options (such as Change Status and Set
Default). Likewise, document objects have other
possible menu selections (such as Print). Disk objects
have Format. But the whole point is that the user, not
the computer, dictates how objects can be used and
manipulated, insofar as possible.
OpenDoc A set of technologies (slated for inclusion in OS/2
Warp in 1995) which, together, will deliver
unprecendented flexibility in the way applications and
objects can be combined, manipulated, and transformed
by people using computers. OpenDoc recognizes that
people are creating more and more complex documents,
including documents which contain embedded runnable
code (such as multimedia sound and video clips which
activate with a mouse click), and they need a way to
store, manage, link, and revise such documents, without
unnecessary complexity. OpenDoc is a standard
supported by members of the Component Integration
Laboratories, including IBM, Apple, WordPerfect, Lotus,
Novell/Wordperfect, and many other vendors. SOM is a
key technology found in OpenDoc (and the Workplace
Shell and its applications, including IBM Works,
demonstrate several aspects of OpenDoc technology
today).
PM "Presentation Manager": the underlying services used by
programmers and the Workplace Shell (see WPS) to
provide windows, scroll bars, dialog boxes, and other
essential interface elements.
PMR "Problem Management Record": a number assigned by IBM
to track a customer-reported problem. (Example: "I
have opened PMR Number 9X534; please reference this
number if you call again.")
PPP "Point-to-Point Protocol": a standard communications
method used to carry network protocols (especially
TCP/IP) over a modem, ISDN, or other serial connection.
Although PPP requires more overhead than SLIP, it is
considered its successor. PPP is available, free of
charge, for OS/2 Warp's Internet Connection.
RIPL "Remote Initial Program Load": the capability to boot
(start) a PC (load its operating system) over a
network. See IPL.
seamless Refers to the ability to run Windows applications
alongside OS/2 and DOS applications on the Workplace
Shell (see WPS) desktop as opposed to the full screen
Win-OS/2 desktop. (Example: "Will this video driver
support seamless Windows?")
SLIP "Serial Line Internet Protocol": or a means of sending
TCP/IP network traffic over a modem or ISDN connection.
SLIP is used when connecting to an Internet provider
(such as the IBM Global Network) using OS/2 Warp's
Internet Connection.
SMP "Symmetric Multiprocessing": a set of technologies in
which two or more computer processors (CPUs) are
managed by one operating system to provide greater
computing power to applications. With SMP, processors
are treated more or less equally (with applications
able to run on any or perhaps all processors in the
system, interchangeably, at the operating system's
discretion). Simple MP usually involves assigning each
processor to a fixed task (such as managing the file
system), reserving the single main CPU for general
tasks. OS/2 for SMP provides true SMP capabilities on
a variety of systems, including those which are
compatible with the Intel MPS (Multiprocessing
Specification) 1.1 standard.
SOM "System Object Model": the underlying design which
allows applications running on OS/2 Warp to be so
tightly integrated, able to share data and, indeed,
runnable objects quickly and easily. The Workplace
Shell is the largest and most complex OS/2 application
based on SOM, but there are many other applications
which use SOM extensively (such as IBM Works, cc:Mail
for OS/2, Chipchat Wireless Communicator, IBM Workframe
2.1, DeScribe Version 5, Mesa for OS/2, and more). For
programmers, SOM is fully compliant with CORBA
standards, fully distributable (over a network) without
any programming changes, and is true object technology,
with inheritance, encapsulation, and polymorphism. SOM
objects running on OS/2 Warp are fully protected from
one another and do not share the same address space.
SOM is one of the key technologies in OpenDoc, is
available on many other platforms, and has been
declared a U.S. Federal Government open software
standard.
SP "Service Pak": see CSD. Sometimes numbered (e.g. "SP
2") to refer to a particular Service Pak.
Taligent A company founded by IBM and Apple (with
Hewlett-Packard also a major shareholder) with a
mission to create a set of object-oriented software
technologies, including the Taligent frameworks, for
use by its parent companies in their products
(including OS/2 Warp).
TCP/IP "Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol": a
protocol, widely available and implemented across a
huge range of systems, which allows information to be
transmitted across a network. TCP/IP is the protocol
used by the Internet, and it is used over a SLIP
connection in OS/2 Warp's built-in Internet Connection.
URL "Universal Resource Locator": standard notation for
locating and accessing information on the Internet
which is used with a World Wide Web browser (such as
the IBM Web Explorer).
Win-OS/2 IBM's customized version of Windows, based on
Microsoft's own source code, which provides
compatibility with Windows applications under OS/2.
Windows is not emulated when it runs under OS/2; a
real copy of Windows, only slightly modified, is used.
OS/2 Warp is available both with and without Win-OS/2.
The version of OS/2 Warp without Win-OS/2 is designed
to use an existing copy of Windows or Windows for
Workgroups (if present) to run Windows applications
under OS/2 Warp. When running this way, that copy of
Windows or Windows for Workgroups is also often called
Win-OS/2.
Workplace OS A set of technologies (not a product itself) which IBM
is using to create future versions of OS/2 Warp (such
as OS/2 Warp for PowerPC) and other operating systems.
Key to this set of technologies is the IBM Microkernel
(based on the Carnegie-Mellon Mach microkernel) and the
ability to support multiple "personalities." Workplace
OS technology allows IBM (and, in fact, other vendors)
to create portable, reliable operating systems which
are easily reconfigured to meet the needs of any buyer.
WPS "Workplace Shell": OS/2 Warp's most commonly used user
interface which provides icons, folders, drag-and-drop
configuration, settings notebooks, and other features
necessary for user interaction with the operating
system and its applications.
XMS "Extended Memory Specification": a method used by some
DOS applications for accessing extended memory (beyond
640K) on 80286 (or better) processors. OS/2 Warp can
provide XMS memory to DOS applications. See DPMI and
EMS.
Related information:
(0.4) Special Report on OS/2 Warp (1.5) High Performance File System (HPFS) (3.10) Extended Services (3.16) Image Scanners (4.2) Installing from Drive B (4.6) Corrective Service Diskettes
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