eComStation

OS/2 renewed

Why eComStation | eCS Releases | Resources

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eComStation is a highly efficient operating system that truly flies on today's powerful computers, and works great on legacy hardware. The minimal resource requirements extend the life of your IT environment, offering a greater return on your investment in computer hardware.
— XEU.com B.V.

eComStation is no longer supported. The website and its resources are gone.

eComStation Replaced OS/2 Warp

When IBM support for OS/2 and OS/2 Warp Server for e-business ended December 31, 2006, eComStation provided a viable solution for those continuing to run OS/2 applications.

eComStation version 1.0 was released on July 30, 2001, version 1.1 was released in 2003, and 1.2 was released in 2004. eComStation 2.0 was released in May 2010 and 2.1 was released a year later.

Why eComStation?

eComStation (eCS) was released by Serenity Systems as a replacement for IBM OS/2 Warp 4. SOHO users found eComStation to be an excellent productivity platform with lots of eye candy for those that like to enhance their desktops. Secure, versatile, powerful and user-friendly, it had enhanced features and better support for hardware.

eComStation screenshot 1 eComStation screenshot 2
The eComStation 2.0 desktop

eCS 2.1 came in three flavours:

Home & Student
Business Edition
Server Edition

All contained the following:

SMP (multiprocessor/multicore) support
OpenOffice.org for eComStation
Support for all available languages is included
Software Subscription Services (different between the versions)
Support (different between the versions)
Multiple licenses in production use (different between the versions)

Home & Student

The Home & Student version can be used by any private or small office user with up to 5 licenses installed for production usage. It came with 6 months of Software Subscription Services and on-line support.

Business Edition

If more than 5 licenses are needed, you had to purchase the Business Edition which included 12 months of Software Subscription Services and telephone support.

Server Edition

The Server Edition is based on the Business Edition and adds the IBM Warp Server for eBusiness components to offer a full professional server environment for your business.

Multi-processor Version

A multi-processor version (supporting up to 64 processors) was released as eCS Pro.

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eComStation Releases

eComStation 2.1 Released May 2011

eCS version 2.1 was provided as a stand-alone purchase or as an upgrade from OS/2, eCS 1.0 or eCS 1.2. eComStation 2.0 GA enhancements and improvements included the following new features:

Include AiR-BOOT (version 1.0.7 final) to allow installation of multiboot environments without sacrificing a primary partition (required for most Windows 7 preloads)
Updated ACPIWIZARD to handle APM aware mousedrivers
AHCI support, enables installation on AHCI only systems. AHCI controllers deliver considerably better performance than regular SATA controllers.
Added AHCI option to preboot menu (currently required to select manually)

eComStation 2.0 Released May 2010

Some of the significant enhancements and improvements over eCS 1.2, including the following:

Support for ACPI power management;
Improved harddisk management;
Support for Bootable JFS;
Support for multi-user desktops;
Support for Samba (Windows & Linux networking);
TCPIP updates, including DHCP;
Improved installation and migration options.

eComStation 1.2R

eComStation 1.2R significantly improved the installation process and hardware support.

eComStation 1.2

Serenity eCS version 1.2 included improvements in the installation process involving mainly the recognition of network and sound cards.

eComStation had various add-ons available that could be purchased later if you needed them. One of these is the separately available eCS Application Pack 1.2 which included:

Lotus SmartSuite 1.7.2 (eCS 1.0 had version 1.5.1).
OpenOffice.org software for OS/2.
Serenity Virtual Station (SVISTA) for OS/2 and eCS--a virtual machine supporting OS/2, Linux, FreeBSD and Windows as host platforms.

While not every OS/2 product was supported by eCS 1.0, I had no trouble with any of my favourites including Object Desktop 2.0. The Add Programs function incorporated almost all of the programs on my disk installed under OS/2 Warp 4. While I had to reinstall a couple of apps, that was also true under Warp 4.