Our next interview is with Lorin L. Cranford,who is a professor of religious
studies at a church related university, Gardner-Webb University, in western NC.
He has taught graduate school students in theology for 23+ years in Texas before
moving to NC last January.
Lorin > I have been an avid OS/2 fan since version 2.0. Am currently running
4.0 on a 66Mhz 486 machine. My wife uses 3.0 on a similar 486 machine.
I use the Lotus Smart Suite software, along with early versions of Adobe Pagemaker
before the poison pill 386 kernal problem prevented updates. Also used are earlier
versions of OmniPage Pro and OmniForm with a HP scanjet. The academic side involves
the use of a number of DOS and Win 3.x programs, e.g., Nota Bene word processing,
which perform much better under WARP 4.0 than either windows or PC-DOS 7.0.
VOICE > How did you decide to use OS/2? What features were considered important
for this project(s)? What previous experience was there with OS/2 and other operating
systems?
Lorin > The multitasking feature of OS/2 was a significant early attraction
for me. At the university office the school requires the use of Win 95 under a NT
network system. Having taught master's level courses on the use of computers in
vocational Christian ministry, I have had to learn much more about MS systems than
I care to know.
VOICE > What other operating systems if any were under consideration or are
used for your business? If you use OS/2 in conjunction with other OSes in any form
of a network, how well does OS/2 work with these other systems?
Lorin > Interestingly, the 486 computer w. WARP 4.0 performs better and at
the same spell level of the unversity 233 Mhz Pentium computer running under Win
95 in the NT network. I typically lock up the university computer four to five times
daily, primarily because of memory caching, while the WARP 4.0 locks up maybe one
a week.
VOICE > Do you foresee continued/increasing use of OS/2 in this fashion?
Lorin > I certainly hope to continue using the OS/2 system on my personal
systems, although the lack of support for a wide range of software creates enormous
difficulties. This factor has created a growing interest in the Linux OS as a possible
supplemental OS if IBM continues its very mediocre support of WARP for end-users.
VOICE > Are there any changes that you would like to see to OS/2 that would
>facilitate your continued use or expanded use of OS/2?
Lorin > The enormous help for me with OS/2 would be to see the expansion of
WIN/OS2 to be able to efficiently run the Win 9x based software inside a true 32
bit OS/2 environment.
VOICE > How have IBM's statements that they are targeting the medium to large
business sector affected your work or your decision to continue using OS/2 for this/these
task(s)?
Lorin > It has made me very cautious about being too dependent on the OS/2 system
for the future as an end-user.
VOICE > If IBM licensed another company to sell the OS/2 client to home/SOHO
users, would it affect your usage of OS/2 (would you use more OS/2 clients for your
work, etc)? If this company could add features, what features would you like to
see added?
Lorin > Assuming the new owner was seriously committed to the OS/2 client,
I would see this as one of the best possible actions to insure the future of OS/2
for users like me.
VOICE > Would you be interested in a refreshed version of OS/2 Warp 4.0, that
is a new install package that included all fixes and new enhancements as well as
new harware support since the original release or a new client based on Aurora?
Lorin > Extremely interested.
VOCIE > Has your business been contacted by IBM about the potential use of
Work Space on Demand? Do you see any use for that product in your business?
Lorin > No. The university would have little interest in switching from BSware.
VOCIE > Do you know of any other sites using OS/2 in your industry?
Lorin > Not at our school.