[raw_anon_1111]

OS/2 never had a chance. I was working at Radio Shack at the time that IBM was trying to sell Aptivas with OS/2. No one wanted it.

It was just weird to people. Microsoft did a big consumer push for Windows 95 and there were lines to buy it and Bill Gates promoted it on the Jay Leno show.

Windows 95 almost killed Apple.

[II2II]

There were plenty of people who wanted OS/2. They simply weren't the type of people who would go to Radio Shack.

By plenty, I should be clear: it probably wasn't enough for OS/2 survive. IBM made some bad decisions early on. Microsoft was also a thorn in everyone's side and it looked like. While their product was good enough, their business practices were savage. Possibly something they learned from IBM's legacy.

I was in my late teens/early twenties at the time. What I learned about how major corporations at the time is likely what led to my llife long interest in open source.

[bruce511]

Microsoft spent a billion 1995 dollars marketing Win 95. Plus they had existing DOS and Windows 3.x users.

Arguably OS/2 was "better" (depending on your definition) but MS were all-in on Windows, and for IBM OS/2 was a side-line. It never stood a chance.

[georgeecollins]

Douglas Copeland wrote a fictional book called Microserfs. He did a lot of comparison between the culture of IBM and Microsoft. Not a bad book , I recall. as

[tonyedgecombe]

It was never really suited to retail sales channels like Radio Shack. It was more of a corporate thing although it obviously failed there as well.

I only came across it at one site, a big UK bank (Midland Bank). They were using a heavily modified version, it didn’t look anything like the original product.

[zabzonk]

OS/2 had some of the ugliest icons I've ever seen (and that elephant!) - looking cute always wins.