Though OS/2 has been in a comatose state for many years now, IBM didn't officially withdraw it from the marketplace until today. Microsoft developed OS/2 for IBM beginning in 1985, but the two companies divorced their development efforts in 1990. IBM continuted to develop OS/2 alone and Microsoft focused on its own Windows product, which quickly displaced OS/2 in the marketplace.
IBM will still provide standard support until December 31, 2006, but no one will be able to buy it from IBM now.
Some OS/2 users would like to see IBM release OS/2 as open source software now, but IBM has given no indication that it will do so, even though there is little profit the company can make from it now and even though the company has now embraced the open source Linux operating system.
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IBM Withdraws OS/2
By Sean Michael Kerner
December 23, 2005
