Following the release of OS/2 Edition 1.1 for Intel 80286 processors by Microsoft last October, the Redmond, Washington company has been dropping broad hints about the details of the forthcoming OS/3 being designed specifically for Intel 80386 based machines. According to 01 Informatique, Microsoft’s aim will be to offer a new file management system, whilst giving greater support for MS-DOS programs than OS/2 does. Existing OS/2 applications for Intel 80286s will be compatible with OS/2-386 via a 32-bit Dynamic Data Link, which can be used for full 32-bit programming, whilst preserving the compatibility of the 16-bit code needed in the 80286 version. Unlike the present OS/2 operating system, which uses the bank switching method of memory management, OS/2-386 will employ a paged memory management system. In compatibility mode it will support Expanded Memory System, and will run up to 16 MS-DOS applications in 8086 virtual mode. Those MS-DOS applications not in use will be transferred to disk to function in background, with Presentation Manager in the foreground. The new High Performance File System method of file management is to include a redesigned File Allocation Table with a memory extended to 64Kb, for management of disks of up to 2,000Gb volume, and files of 4.2Gb. The new system will make optimum use of the disk space available for file storage, it will also contain the base for an object orientated file management system, since Microsoft is developing a C++ compiler based on the C++ language fron AT&T, and database enhancements for C and Basic languages. Preliminary tests on the new version of OS/2 with the High Per-ormance File System have shown a performance improvement of just under 50% in real mode when compared to the existing version of OS/2. This seems to point the way for OS/2 development, and future plans for the system are already being laid. The eventual aim is to develop a version of Presentation Manager under OS/2 which incorporates a Graphic Programming Interface functioning like Adobe Postscript, offering extended bit-map graphics and screen enhancements. This version of OS/2 will have an Advanced Video Input/Output module comprising a virtual screen, mouse, virtual keyboard and window support. Finally, Microsoft sees OS/2 developing on a parallel path with Unix.
