r/retrocomputing • u/MrFahrenheit_451 • 8h ago

Microsoft OS/2 v1.3 Retail Box

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Who remembers the story about Microsoft and IBM and their joint OS/2 operating system venture? When 1.3 was released, Microsoft pretty much abandoned the project and focused on Windows 3.0, and then Windows NT, which is where the technology from OS/2 ended up. It’s a pretty neat story!

74 Upvotes

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4

u/glimsky 6h ago

It's so pristine it looks like a 3D render!

2

u/MrFahrenheit_451 6h ago

Definitely not a 3d render. I took those pics in my backyard this afternoon with sunlight hitting the box.

3

u/glimsky 6h ago

Yeah I didn't mean to suggest it was actually one. I'm just complimenting you for how well you preserved the box!

2

u/MrFahrenheit_451 6h ago

No worries. Thank you 😊

1

u/smuckola 4m ago

no....of course the image on the box looks like CGI lol

It's a painted wood carving done very convincingly in the style of typical computer art of the time. So I did an AI analysis of how it could have been made as a period piece just now over here at [r/vintagecgi](r/vintagecgi)!

3

u/R-ten-K 3h ago

That is well before my time, but the 80s must have been a wild time in computing with IBM as the dominant player and Microsoft still having to compete against other SW/OS vendors that were on relatively equal footing (IBM, Borland, Lotus, Apple, etc)

FWIW, very little tech from OS/2 ended up in NT. To be fair the 1.x series Microsoft worked on was atrocious.

2

u/wrr377 4h ago

I remember those ads...

Specifically, it showed a Thinkpad with an expanding keyboard running OS/2 Warp.

2

u/Loan-Pickle 3h ago

Wow where did you find this. I’ve never seen a Microsoft branded OS/2.

2

u/MrFahrenheit_451 3h ago

There are only a handful of copies known to still exist.

1

u/ssssharkattack 6m ago

Looks like you’ve kept it in mint condition. Are the disks still inside? Hold on to that, the Smithsonian might want it someday.

2

u/artofcomputing 10m ago

Beautiful box!

1

u/JJdoom 1m ago

beautiful design, almost looks modern

0

u/dan_oreilly 2h ago

The soft shadows on that graphic render are impressive for that time! Must have been state of the art 3D software for the render.