[4DOS.INFO]

4OS2 Versions

This is my (incomplete) collection of old 4OS2 versions. I have listed all old 4OS2 versions I got or know of. Any help from you to find the missing versions is very much appreciated. Note that these are all legitimate shareware versions and you need the appropriate brand program to register them.

Most of these files are mainly of interest for research purposes. For actual use select the final, most bugfree reelase of a major version.

For JP Software's notes on the developement of  4OS2 see  JP Software's 4OS2 history

Latest version.: ftp://ftp.jpsoft.com/

Latest Revision, downloadable

Still looking for this files!

Topics

    Version 1      Version 2      Version 2.5      Version 3   

  Freeware Versions 

         Version         Date                        Size       Remarks

Version 1

• 4OS2 0.95pr          ???             ???   Public beta "pre-release"
• 4OS2 1.0a     1992-06-08 - 01:00  218 KB   The very first public 4OS2 release.
• 4OS2 1.0b     1992-06-12 - 01:00     ???   Rev. 1.0b                 
• 4OS2 1.0c     1992-09-30 - 01:00     ???   Rev. 1.0c                 
• 4OS2 1.0d     1992-08-06 - 01:00     ???   Rev. 1.0d,                
• 4OS2 1.0d     1993-09-30 - 01:00   38 KB   Patch to Rev. b, c, d.
• 4OS2/32 1.1   1993-12-30 - 01:10  113 KB   Rev. 1.1, program files only

Version 2

• 4OS2/16 2.0a  1993-12-16 - 02:00   81 KB   Rev. 2.0a, program files only
• 4OS2/32 2.0a  1993-12-16 - 02:00  110 KB   Rev. 2.0a, program files only
• 4OS2/all 2.0a 1993-12-16 - 02:00  286 KB   Rev. 2.0a, shared doc files
• 4OS 2.0b      1994-01-04             ???   Rev. 2.0b                 
• 4OS 2.0c      1994-02-08             ???   Rev. 2.0c                 
• 4OS 2.0d      1994-04-04 - 02:00   81 KB   Patch from 2.0c to 2.0d
• 4OS 2.02      1994-04-04 - 02:00   81 KB   Rev. 2.02

Version 2.5

• 4OS2/16 2.5a  1994-10-12 - 02:50   87 KB   Rev. 2.5a, program files only
• 4OS2/32 2.5a  1994-10-12 - 02:50  119 KB   Rev. 2.5a, program files only
• 4OS2/all 2.5a 1994-10-12 - 02:50  315 KB   Rev. 2.5a, shared doc files
• 4OS2/32 2.5a  1994-10-12 - 02:50  433 KB   Rev. 2.5a, complete
• 4OS2 2.5b     1994-10-19 - 02:50     ???   Rev. 2.5b                 
• 4OS2 2.5c     1994-12-20 - 02:50     ???   Rev. 2.5c                 
• 4OS2 2.51a    1995-08-21 - 02:51  533 KB   Rev. 2.51a
• 4OS2 2.51b    1995-10-17 - 02:51  121 KB   Update from 2.51a to 2.51b
• 4OS2 2.52a    1996-04-17 - 02:52  552 KB   Rev. 2.52a

Version 3

• 4OS2 2.95     1997-05-25 - ???       ???   Time-limited beta         
• 4OS2 3.00a    1997-07-24 - 03:00  625 KB   Rev. 3.0a                 
• 4OS2 3.00b    1997-07-30 - 03:00  626 KB   Rev. 3.0b
• 4OS2 3.01pr   1998-01-09 - 03:01    ???    Time-limited beta         
• 4OS2 3.01a    1998-02-02 - 03:01  628 KB   Rev. 3.01a
• 4OS2 3.02     1999-04-16 - 03:02  643 KB   Rev. 3.02a
• 4OS2 3.02b    1999-04-16 - 03:02  643 KB   Rev. 3.02b
• 4OS2 3.03a    2001-12-21 - 10:52  636 KB   Rev. 3.03a
• 4OS2 3.03b           ???             ???   Rev. 3.03b                
• 4OS2 3.04a    2002-10-29 - 10:52  523 KB   Rev. 3.04a, last formal release from JP Software. This is a free, open source release of the 4OS2 command processor.

Freeware Versions

 

For the following information I am grateful to Richard Steiner, who cleared up some of my confusion over the various versions floating around:

The development of 4OS2 has indeed been shelved by JP Software, but thanks to their generosity (and release of the source code) there are still improvements being made by third parties.

The source for 4OS2 3.04 was given by Rex Conn to Michal Necasek at SciTech Software (makers of SciTech Display Doctor for DOS and the well known SNAP Graphics drivers for OS/2 & Linux), and Michal has released a number of versions containing minor box fixes to the OS/2 community.

These new versions have been numbered 3.04B through 3.04G (the last release just made on 30 July 2005), and the only help file contains all of the changes in the "What's New" section.
There was no SciTech version 3.04A, just B/C/D/E/F and G.

The last three versions are available here on the SciTech web site:

• 4OS2 3.04e

• 4OS2 3.04f

• 4OS2 3.04g

and this page (which isn't up to date yet) shows where on the actual company site you can also find a pointer to their free version:

• http://www.scitechsoft.com/products/ent/free_titles.html

The source for 4OS2 3.04B is available on the Hobbes FTP site in the following file:

• http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/util/shell/4os2src.zip

This source compiles using the freeware OpenWatcom compiler for OS/2, which is quite convenient.  

• http://www.openwatcom.org

Michal Necasek's and Steven Levine's 3.04H, Open Source Edition [2007-
05-09] is  posted at Open Watcom:

• 4OS2 3.04h

Difference from 3.04G, SciTech Edition:

- Fixed shift /1 crashes
- Fixed spurious REXX error reports

To make things a little more complicated, another OS/2 programmer and long-time 4OS2 enthusiast (Doug Lindquist) found the 4OS2 source files on Hobbes and decided to make some changes and minor enhancements of his own before SciTech's (Michal's) involvement was very well known in the OS/2 community.

Doug's versions were numbered starting at 4.00A (mainly due to some larger changes he had made), but associated problems and conversations with Michal on comp.os.os2.apps has resulted in his version being discontinued in favour of a unified version from SciTech. His versions were 4.00A, 4.01A, and 4.02A.

• http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/util/shell/4os21125.zip

• http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/util/shell/4os2401a.zip

• http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/util/shell/4os2402a.zip

Hope that helps clear some things up regarding 4OS2 and the nature of the various versions that are floating around.

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