1. [Operating System] n. An abbreviation heavily used in
email, occasionally in speech. 2. n. obs. On ITS, an output spy.
See "OS and JEDGAR" in
Appendix A.
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OS/2 /O S too/ n.
The anointed successor to MS-DOS for Intel 286- and 386-based
micros; proof that IBM/Microsoft couldn't get it right the second
time, either. Often called `Half-an-OS'. Mentioning it is usually
good for a cheap laugh among hackers -- the design was so baroque, and the implementation of 1.x so
bad, that 3 years after introduction you could still count the
major apps shipping for it on the
fingers of two hands -- in unary. The 2.x versions are said to
have improved somewhat, and informed hackers now rate them
superior to Microsoft Windows (an endorsement which, however,
could easily be construed as damning with faint praise). See
monstrosity, cretinous, second-system effect.
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