what's the best operating system for an old I.B.M. PS/2 model 30?

Question

yes i realize this thing is over 20 years old so my options are very limited. but since this thing still works i don't see why i shouldn't at least try installing an OS and having fun with it. serious answers only please, and please make sure you know what you're saying, cause i already know no distro of linux will work, i wish it would.and windows systems back then weren't even operating systems. i currently have a bad install of pc-dos which doesn't seem to do much. an automatic best answer will go to the first person who gives me something that i can install from 3.5" floppies that has a graphical user interface and is fairly straightforward. oh and if you know of a place online where i can download floppy images please include a link, thank you very much

Answer 1

It is an 8086, so you need to use something like freedos, or drdos. Windows 3x needs at least 286.



If you want a graphical desktop try opengem, but it must be installed over a text base dos. Dos isn't generally a big problem to install even though it is text based.



It appears that model used only 720 mb floppies, and the only thing I could find that was 720 mb was the odin version of freedos.

Answer 2

Boy, are you ever a tough sell! :) I'm lost except to suggest somehow obtaining an original copy of IBM OS/2,



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS/2



which was made around the same time and originally intended to run on the PS/2, and that does have a GUI interface (first included in 1988 with version 1.1) that you're looking for. IBM has canceled support for OS/2 lately anyway, so this may be impossible. Maybe stalk eBay for an original boxed set?



My only other guess - and this after you said 'no Linux' - is Tom's root-boot floppy, given in the source link. It's a Linux distro that fits on a 3.5-inch 1.44 MB floppy, and after that you can try to build up from there by compiling from source. But Tom's root-boot has no GUI, it's all command line.



You're running either an Intel 8086 or 286 at best, and probably have a hard drive around 40 MB or so, if it even has one. So even your modest expectations might be too much. My last idea is to prowl around retro-computing newgroups; maybe some BSD tinkerer will be interested in modifying an existing system to fit.



I'm quite a retro computing enthusiast myself, but wow, this one has even me wondering...

Answer 3

Okay, I'll try to give a serious answer here, considering that I am a PC enthusiast as well :) I would recommend trying Windows for Workgroups or Windows 3.11 MIGHT work. Man that stuff is so old its hard to say what would really work. I would honestly say that DOS is really probably the only thing that would work on that, I don't even know that it can support a graphical interface. On the other hand, you could check oldversion.com or download.com to see if any of those types of images are available. As for the image for a floppy, you might need to create that yourself. Good luck man.

Answer 4

That brings back memories. I used to manage a lab full of those guys.



The model 30 has a 286, which seriously limits your options. It will run DOS, Windows 1.0, Windows 286/2.10 (they made one version for the 286 and another one for the 386), maybe OS/2 1.0 or 1.1. That's about all I can think of.

Answer 5

MS-DOS.



Have a nice day!