The Rise and Fall of OS/2: A Historical Look at IBM and Microsoft’s Joint Operating System

In April 2024 the Hobbes OS/2 Archive website announced it would close, sparking a retrospective on the OS/2 operating system that once served as a joint IBM‑Microsoft project.

OS/2 was created in the 1980s by IBM and Microsoft as a successor to PC‑DOS, aiming to provide a more powerful, multitasking environment for IBM PCs, but it never achieved the mass‑market success of Windows.

Microsoft’s early OS history began with MS‑DOS, which powered the original IBM PC, and later evolved into Windows. While Windows 2.0 and especially Windows 3.0 (released in 1990) quickly captured the consumer market, Microsoft gradually shifted focus away from OS/2, formally ending the partnership in 1991 and committing fully to Windows.

Despite losing the mainstream battle, OS/2 found a niche in enterprise environments. Companies such as the California consulting firm Blonde Guy, Texas software vendor Ziplog, various railways, and even national broadcasters continued to run critical applications on OS/2, and later versions like ArcaOS kept the platform alive.

Legacy operating systems like OS/2, Windows 3.1, and Windows XP still linger in many large organizations because stability and long‑term support outweigh the desire for the latest features; even today some banks, hospitals, and ATMs rely on these older systems.

The story illustrates how older software, often considered “ancient,” remains essential infrastructure, and how the industry’s focus on stability can keep such systems running long after their commercial heyday.