OS/2 Inside and Out

Book Review by Bob Shanteau

According to the cover, this book "guides you quickly from
fundamentals to advanced concepts." It covers OS/2 2.0, whose lack
of a thick manual apparently triggered the writing of this book.
This book reads a lot like a user's manual.

This book starts out by assuming the reader is a beginner in the
use of computers. The first chapter covers computers in general,
including hardware, operating systems, multitasking, and device
drivers. The next chapter goes through OS/2 installation. It's good
at advising on the decisions to be made during the installation,
such as dual boot vs. boot manager, choosing what to install,
migrating applications, and configuring the OS/2 desktop.

The next chapter covers online help, which in OS/2 is quite
extensive. Help can be found through the menu bar, the F1 key, the
Start Here and Information folders, the Master Help index, and on
the command line. Then it covers the Workplace Shell, including how
to manipulate objects and windows. Its coverage of manipulating
files through the Workplace Shell is pretty thorough. It also
covers the DOS and OS/2 command lines, thoroughly, although most
OS/2 users are probably already familiar with most of the commands.

The book covers the editors that come with OS/2 in quite a bit of
detail. It goes on to discuss batch files, printing, and use of ATM
fonts. Next, it explains how to run DOS and Windows applications.

The chapter titled "Switching to High Octane" provides many
insights on memory usage, disk caching, configuration settings,
program settings, hardware configuration, and management of hard
disk space.

The book next covers most of the productivity applications
(applets) and games that come with OS/2. In particular, it covers
the calendar, alarm and to-do list programs in OS/2 that comprise
what some people call a personal information manager. The book
gives some valuable advice on selecting software for OS/2,
including whether to buy native OS/2 programs or to stick with DOS
and Windows.

The chapter on the authors' tips is one of the most valuable in the
book. It gives advice on how to solve various hardware and software
problems, including aborted installations, mouse tips, IRQ
settings, video adaptors, networks, printers, FAX support, HPFS
file systems, virus issues, corrupted INI files, bug fixes, and
more.

A chapter on REXX introduces this powerful programming language.
Finally, there is a chapter listing error messages. Appendices
include a command reference, configuration file reference, a
description of OS/2 files, and advice on changing hardware. The
index is complete and accurate.

This skill level guide on the back cover says that it is
appropriate for every user. Some of the explanations, however, are
a little too cryptic for intermediate and beginning users. Also, I
found an error every few pages. Some of the screen shots are
unreadable, probably from poor control of contrast during the
printing process.

With software upgrades coming so fast, the shelf life of books is
short. Although this book was published early this year, it is
already dated. By the time you read this, OS/2 2.1 will be in the
stores.

The book mentions only briefly the vast amount of information
available by modem. I find the biggest sources of OS/2 help to be
the on-line help, the readme file, and the OS/2 conferences on
Internet, Ilink, and Rime. Of particular importance is the OS/2
Frequently Asked Questions List (FAQ) on Internet. Both Cricket and
Nitelog carry the IBM file fixes and FAQs.

If you're planning to install OS/2 2.0, this book is a good guide
when used in conjunction with the latest FAQ list, messages in the
OS/2 conferences, and the latest file fixes. Note that OS/2 2.1
will come with a thick manual, so you may not need a separate book.

OS/2 Inside and Out
by Kathy Ivens and Brian Proffit
Osborne McGraw-Hill
2600 Tenth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
$27.95