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.
:elines.
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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