eComStation

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
eComStation
developer XEU.com BV (as maintainer of the further developed OS / 2 )
License (s) proprietary
Current  version eComStation 2.1 (May 21, 2011)
ancestry Multitasking MS-DOS
↳ OS / 2
↳ eComStation
www.ecomstation.com

eComStation ( eCS for short ) is an operating system from the company XEU.com BV and as such the OEM further development and the successor to OS / 2 . The development is mainly carried out by employees of the Dutch company Mensys, volunteers and the open source developer community Netlabs.org . Numerous extensions are developed or ported under the umbrella of Netlabs.org. Among other things, the document viewer Lucide, which can display PDF, JPEG and DjVu files and is integrated in eComStation 2.0, comes from Netlabs. The Odin project is also looked after here, with the help of which a large number of Windows programs can be used on OS / 2 and eComStation. Serenity Systems was taken over by Arca Noae in 2015.

A demo version of eComStation 1.2R and the beta version 2.2 are available as a live system (similar to Knoppix ), which does not require (write) access to the hard disk. Certain network cards are supported and recognized automatically. The network configuration is done automatically via DHCP . B. Access to the WWW is possible with the included Mozilla Firefox web browser .

System architecture

EComStation is based on a ring architecture . The system kernel and device drivers run in the inner ring 0. Ring 2 is used for graphics drivers. User programs run in ring 3. The system is a single-user, multitasking system.

In addition to native OS / 2 applications (GUI and console programs), the following can also be executed without installing virtual machines:

  • DOS sessions, individually encapsulated (integrated virtual machine); this means that old DOS programs can be used.
  • Windows 3.1 sessions (integrated virtual machine) for Windows 3.1 programs.

EComStation integrates with Samba in Windows networks and with eCUPS in Unix / Linux and macOS printing environments, also via WLAN .

The company Arca Noae has dedicated itself to driver development since 2014.

description

surface

EComStation offers an object-oriented work surface ( Workplace Shell WPS) with several selectable screens. In contrast to many other systems, drag and drop is done with the right mouse button.

Scripts and programming

The powerful REXX script language is supplied . Optionally, the extended command interpreter 4OS2 can also be installed. Runtime environments for Java and Qt exist for eComStation .

Software management

An effective software management tool for installing and uninstalling software is WarpIn. In many cases, however, software is also distributed as a ZIP archive. The user unpacks the archive and moves the unpacked files to the program path. The RPM / Yum system was also ported, which also checks the dependencies of individual software packages.

Differentiation from other operating systems

Main differences from OS / 2

EComStation is the compatible further development of OS / 2. The system has been adapted to modern hardware ( motherboard , printer , USB , large hard drives , JFS - file system , updated boot manager , computer network , scanner ). Because of the low prevalence of eComStation, the development of malware is unattractive.

advantages
  • Long-term stability: It is possible to use user software and drivers continuously since the appearance of OS / 2 (1987 16-bit, 32-bit 1992) without operating system updates having to make new applications necessary. This is an important aspect especially for business applications.
  • Low hardware requirements
disadvantage
  • Device drivers are only available in limited numbers; the newer and more special the hardware, the less likely the existence of a driver is. Support for USB 3.0 and UEFI is available as beta. There are currently no known solutions for working with smartphones and tablets. There are no drivers for Bluetooth .
  • EComStation is a commercial product, there is no free version. The price of a “SOHO” full version ( Small Office, Home Office ) is below that of a current Windows full version, but above that of the widespread Windows Update or System Builder licenses .
  • The software offer is far less than z. B. for Windows or Linux. However, Windows or other operating systems can run in a virtual machine. Various programs from the Linux world have been ported.
  • Despite the similar graphical user interface, the operation can be unusual or unknown to new users.

Minimum hardware requirements

for version (s) eComStation 1.0 to 2.1
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium 133 MHz or equivalent
Working memory (RAM) 48 MB (absolute minimum for installation from CD)
graphic card VGA card with at least 512 kB memory.
hard disk 500 MB free - other systems can be installed in parallel
optical drive CD-ROM drive - SATA, IDE, or SCSI CD-ROM or DVD drive (USB can be problematic)
mouse Any PS / 2, serial or USB mouse

License model

A license must be purchased for each workstation.

The “Home & Student Edition” includes the “Software Subscription Services” for a period of six months. This variant is recommended for use with up to five workstations.

The "Business Edition" is intended for users who want to use eComStation on more than five workstations. The Business Edition includes the "Software Subscription Services" for a period of twelve months.

The "Media Pack" receives three CDs (system, bonus software and Apache OpenOffice ). The download only receives the system CD.

List: range of functions

The current version 2.1 of eComStation includes the following programs and drivers (selection):

  • New boot loader AiR-BOOT (version "1.0.7 final") allows the installation of multi-boot systems without giving up the primary partition (required e.g. for pre-installed Windows 7).
  • Current OS / 2 kernel 14.105
  • ACPI 3.18 for new kernel 14.105
  • Revised ACPIWIZARD to support APM mouse drivers
  • AHCI support with driver version 1.12, enables the installation of systems based exclusively on AHCI. AHCI controllers promise better performance than common SATA controllers.
  • New AHCI option in the preboot menu (currently to be selected manually)
  • New BOOTDLY driver with a 20 second delay when booting, so that SCSI controllers and hard drives have time to initialize. The driver is added by OS2CSM and HWMERGE when a SCSI driver is selected.
  • Improved hard drive integrity test with graphical operator control
  • SciTech SNAP-ENT graphics driver (supports more than 240 chipsets, overlay, dual head and DVI depending on the chipset).
  • Panorama graphics driver
  • Improved VESA graphics driver Driver VBE2GRAD.DLL (universal graphics card driver) for improved work in VirtualBox (since eCS 2.0, offers improved VESA support and allows widescreen formats for Intel and AMD / ATI graphics chips by manipulating the graphics card BIOS).
  • USB support: OHCI, UHCI (USB 1.1) and EHCI drivers (USB 2.0) for printers, keyboards, mice, USB sticks and other USB hardware
  • Driver for network cards (will be expanded with eCS 2.0 by GenMAC> = 2.2)
  • Driver for WLAN cards (will be updated with eCS 2.0; GenMAC> = 2.0 then also supports WPA encryption)
  • Drivers for sound cards or sound chips by Uniaud , a port of the Linux ALSA subsystem.
  • EIDE (PATA) and SATA drivers from Daniela Engert
  • Bootable file system JFS 1.9.4 (the boot process from a JFS partition has been supported since the appearance of eCS 2.0 ).
  • Extended hardware detection now also for Intel PRO / 1000 PCIe
  • NTFS support (read only)
  • FAT32 support
  • eCUPS makes almost all newer printers usable ( PostScript , PCL, inkjet printers and plotters).
  • SANE scanner driver (SCSI and USB)
  • Simplified Logical Volume Manager
  • Other open source software included
  • Wireless LAN monitor for the configuration of the WLAN network interface (uses the GenMAC driver and is integrated in xWorkplace or eWorkplace).
  • Software Subscription Services (12 months term; access to beta and new eCS versions if they appear in the 12 months)

List: Available software for eComStation

Among other things, the following packages from the open source area are also available for eComStation or are being actively developed:

  • Range of Mozilla products:
    • Mozilla Firefox Version 4.0.1 (Versions 17.0.11 / ESR or 38.8.0 beta version 7 can be installed on the Internet)
    • Mozilla Thunderbird Version 2.0.0.22 (Versions 17.0.11 / ESR or trial version 38.6.0 can be installed on the Internet)
    • SeaMonkey (Version 2.xx) (Versions 2.14.11 / ESR or 2.35a2 can be installed on the Internet)
  • Samba server based on
    • Samba version 3.0.x (stable)
    • Samba version 3.3.16 (stable)
    • Samba version 3.5.9 (in test mode)
  • Samba client based on
    • Samba version 3.0.x (stable)
    • Samba version 3.3.x (in test mode)
  • Ghostscript (9.1)
  • eCUPS makes current printers usable
  • ePDF for printing to a PDF file
  • OpenOffice.org (version 3.2) and 4.1.2
  • MPlayer (including the Qt-based SMplayer frontend)
  • VLC media player 2.2.3
  • Scribus 1.45 (desktop publishing, open source)
  • Maul-Publisher 3.0 (desktop publishing, commercial)
  • VirtualBox 1.56 enables the use of other operating systems in virtual machines , for example Windows 7
  • Antivirus program ClamAV
  • RPM / Yum
  • for software developers

List: versions

  • July 10, 2001: eComStation 1.0
  • April 18, 2003: eComStation 1.1
  • December 18, 2004: eComStation 1.2
  • March 13, 2006: eComStation 1.2R Media Refresh (German), another update of CD1 was made on April 5, 2006
  • May 21, 2010: eComStation 2.0 (so far only in English)
  • May 10, 2011: eComStation 2.1 (so far only in English and German)
  • February 28, 2013: eComStation 2.2 public beta (English)

In 2017 ArcaOS 5.0 appeared and was updated by version 5.0.1. Another update to version 5.0.2 took place in February 2018 and in August 2018 to 5.0.3.

List: users

Status 2013 (selection):

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.ecomstation.com/about_us.phtml
  2. ↑ https://www.arcanoae.com/arca-noae-and-serenity-systems-international/
  3. ↑ http://www.edm2.com/0607/kernel.html
  4. ↑ https://www.arcanoae.com/roadmap/
  5. ↑ User meeting: Live UEFI ArcaOS installation! - OS2.org forum. Retrieved February 28, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from April 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ap-com.de
  7. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from April 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ap-com.de
  8. ↑ http://uniaud.netlabs.org/en/site/index.xml
  9. ↑ Website for the WLAN monitor
  10. ↑ a b c Tips for Warpzilla - Mozilla for OS / 2. os2news.warpstock.org, August 28, 2015, accessed January 2, 2016
  11. ↑ http://www.subsys.de/ePDF/
  12. ↑ http://www.ecomstation.com/product_info.phtml?url=nls/en/content/openoffice.html&title=OpenOffice.org%20for%20eComStation
  13. ↑ http://www.bitwiseworks.com/shop/index.php?id_product=33&controller=product&id_lang=2
  14. ↑ Homepage eComStation

Web links