Free Browser For The Unsinkable OS / 2 Operating System OS / 2 In The Style Classic Opera Has Been Released
Browser For OS/2 In 2022
The free Otter Browser, which aims to be like Opera’s classic Opera, will be portable to ArcaOS, an operating system that is based upon the legendary IBM OS/2.
Otter browser is a cross-platform, free and open-source web browser built on the QtWebKit and QtWebKit engines. The program shares the most similarities with Opera 12 classic Opera 12.
OS/2 is an open source operating system that IBM developed between 1985 and 2001. ArcaOS is an operating system that supports 32-bit single-user multitasking for x86 processors. It is based upon OS/2 Warp 4.52. Arca Noae in the USA developed the operating system with IBM’s permission. ArcaOS is compatible with modern hardware. It can run software for Windows 2 and 16-bit applications.
Port Features
According to os2world.com’s profile portal, the beta browser version for OS / 2 will be available to the public in the late February – earlyMarch 2022. A small group of developers are currently testing the internal functionality.
Three employees from Bitwise Works, a small Austrian company that makes software for the elderly, are responsible for porting Otter to OS / 2. This is done in their spare time away from their main job. The project is still in its infancy.
According to Dmitry KuminovaOtter web engine, which was written by, is one of the authors. It includes approximately 75 000 files, with around 35 million lines of C ++ source code. Fortunately, a large part of it compiles without any problems under OS / 2. However, there are some fragments that need to be adapted to the OS’s features.
Developers have two options for the browser. One is for people who are financially supporting the project (Donation Version) and one for everyone (Public Version). Both versions will work exactly the same. You can start the free version and then open the next tab to see a window asking you if you would like to buy a paid one. Paid in turn will not disturb the user.
The developers propose charging 30 Euro per person per annum for the Donation version. However, the source code will be available for free. OS / 2 and its derivatives will still be able to create a fully-fledged Otter version for themselves if they have the right skills.
Golden Age Of Opera
Opera browser 12, developed by Opera Software from Norway, was a success because of its versatility. This “combine” not only allowed users to browse the Internet directly, but also included a powerful download manager and integrated mail and torrent client. A contact book, an anti-advertiser, and many other features. Opera used the Presto engine at that time, and it was considered to be safe.
Opera 12 was released and developers moved their children from the Presto engine into WebKit and then to Google’s Blink. This is used in Chrome and Brave as well as the new Microsoft Edge and Vivaldi. Opera 12 has lost many of its benefits and was not liked by a large portion of users. In February 2016, the final update to branch 12 was published.
Many projects were created after the death of the opera classic. One can still see its features in one of them. Otter Browser is one of them. Michal Dutkiewicz (Michał Dutkiewicz), the first version of which was released in 2013, and Vivaldi, created by the former CEO of Opera Software Jon Stephenson von Techner (Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner).
StatCounter estimates that Opera Desktop Browser’s share at the end of January 2022 was 3.3%. Chrome share – 65.38%; Safari 9.84%; Edge 9.54%; Firefox 9.18%.
OS/2 Life Path
OS/2 was jointly created by IBM and Microsoft. It was based upon the code of systems from UNIX, BSD, along with its own operating system. OS/2 had many advanced features at the time: multitasking, reliability, stability, high speed, low resource requirements, and high speed. It was developed for IBM personal computers and servers, as well as production equipment, cash terminals and ATMs.
Microsoft withdrew its support in the early 90s of this century and created Windows NT based on the information received. The descendants of Windows NT are Windows 10 and 11.
IBM stopped working on the project in 2001 but refused to release the OS code despite requests from the community. OS / 2 was still used by some systems in Europe and the USA, including banking. OS support was needed. American Serenity Systems International, under license from IBM, has developed eComStation – an OS based OS / 2 4.5 Warp that includes open source components. 2011 was the last time eComStation was released.
Arca Noae released Blue Lion in 2017, a new version of OS/2 that could run on real hardware and not only on a virtual machine. ArcaOS 5.0 was the new name of the OS.
