Author Archives: Lewis Rosenthal

Main site upgrade complete – all services available

Thanks to everyone who gave us the time required to get things properly sorted and address our site upgrade and login issues.

We are pleased to announce that as of yesterday afternoon, all services are back up and running as expected, and all logins work for the main site, the bug tracker, and the subscription RPM and WarpIN repositories.

If you have a subscription coming up for renewal, now is the time to see to it! Or, if you’ve heard about ArcaOS, but don’t yet have a license and a personalized ISO in English, German, Spanish, or Russian, now is the time to get one!

Status update on web services

Thanks for everyone’s patience throughout this process!

We are pleased to announce that the upgrade of the main site has gone well, and all services hosted on the main site (the store, customer portals, wiki, FAQ, static pages, etc.) should all be working as expected.

That said, due to a major security enhancement introduced in the most recent versions of WordPress (which runs this site), when an existing user logs into the main site, his or her password will be rehashed, and all new users will have their passwords hashed using the new algorithm. This means that until we complete some other changes, once these new password hashes have been stored in the database, logging into the bug tracker will not be possible. This same issue impacts subscription RPM and WarpIN repositories.

As soon as we have addressed these latest security changes, we will post a follow-up here. In the interim, new ISO requests, support renewals, and downloads from the Download and Renewals Center should all be working as expected.

Major website updates this afternoon

A breaking change by our credit card processor necessitated the upgrades of several of our website components today. This work is ongoing, and may impact ordering, payment, subscription downloads, and other functions of our main website over the next couple of days. Our other servers (bug tracker, code repository, RPM and WPI repositories, email, and FTP) are not impacted by these changes.

We regret any inconvenience this may cause. No bug reports are requested at this time. We will continue to keep everyone posted as we continue the process, however.

The Download Center is now the Download & Renewal Center

In January of 2023, we introduced the ArcaOS Download Center. After expanding this download center to include all subscriptions and their associated downloads, we renamed it simply the Download Center. However, because this portal has so much more functionality which may not be apparent without visiting it first, we have again modified the name to the Download & Renewal Center.

If you are not familiar with this handy tool, in the left navigation area you should see the Download & Renewal Center link. Clicking it will bring you to a consolidated listing of your ArcaOS licenses and associated downloads followed by your other subscriptions and their associated downloads. Need a new ISO? No problem. Just find your ArcaOS license with active support, and request a new one. In addition, no matter which type of subscription you have, you’ll be able to see at a glance when the subscription is set to expire, and have the ability to simply click a button to renew a subscription. That’s it!

So, if you are using an email client or web mail which for some reason does not properly provide you with a usable link in your renewal reminder email, simply visit your Download & Renewal Center, select the license with expiring support, and click Renew.

Warpstock Europe 2025: A Huge Success!

If you weren’t able to attend or watch the live stream of the sessions at this year’s Warpstock Europe event in Amersfoort, The Netherlands, you should soon be able to watch the polished, post-production videos linked from the site. There was a lot of great information presented, and of course, a good deal of audience participation and discussion. In all, the event was a tremendous success!

There are currently two annual Warpstock events, run by two separate though coordinating entities: Warpstock, the original event, typically held in North America in the fall, sponsored by Warpstock Corporation, a US 501(c)3 non-profit organization, dedicated to educating users about the use of alternative operating systems; and Warpstock Europe, typically held in central Europe in the spring, sponsored by Stichting VOICE International, a Dutch non-profit entity.

If you’ve never attended a Warpstock event, the experience is unique. You get to spend time one-on-one with not only like-minded users, but with the developers shaping the OS/2 landscape and the engineers supporting it. There is plenty of time outside of actual classroom sessions to relax and exchange ideas, request improvements and new features, and to break out into smaller groups for ad hoc discussions.

The next Warpstock event is scheduled for Friday, November 7 through Sunday, November 9, 2025, in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. Early registration is now open, providing a generous discount for those who register for the full conference before August 1. Once again, some of the Arca Noae staff will be on hand to present roadmap and how-to sessions, as well as others with various areas of expertise.

Dynamic Icons version 2.5.6 for ArcaOS released

Dynamic Icons has been updated to version 2.5.6, and is now available as part of the Support & Maintenance subscription for your ArcaOS product. Please log into your account and see your ArcaOS order details page to access your software. This update is available for 5.0 and 5.1 ArcaOS licensees with active Support & Maintenance.

Version 2.5.6 introduces a new caching scheme which essentially eliminates duplicated icons, significantly reducing memory overhead and dramatically improves desktop responsiveness. In addition, it is now possible to specify different icon size parameters for Tree and Icon views, a longstanding and often requested enhancement.

For those who rely on Dynamic Icons, this update is a must-have.

Many, many thanks to Rich Walsh for his hard work on this update.

If you are still running OS/2 and/or eComStation systems and haven’t yet moved up to ArcaOS, this is a great reason to do so now. If you’ve already made the switch, but haven’t renewed renewed your support subscription, this is also a good time. Not sure what’s coming next? Have a look at our product roadmap pages.

Come join us at Warpstock Europe 2025 this weekend!

If you’ve never attended a Warpstock or Warpstock Europe event, these are truly unique and enjoyable experiences. This weekend, in Amersfoort, The Netherlands, Arca Noae Managing Member, Lewis Rosenthal, and Chief UI Architect, Alex Taylor will be on hand to present and answer questions regarding ArcaOS past, present, and future.

It’s not too late to register for the event. Visit the Warpstock Europe homepage for more information and to purchase tickets.

Lewis will provide the latest roadmap for ArcaOS 5.1, including highlights of development and planning for the 5.1.2 release. Alex will be discussing what it takes to create a localized ArcaOS version, and for developers, how to write or update existing applications to take advantage of some of the newer dynamic font sizing support in ArcaOS.

Getting a little more DOS headroom under ArcaOS 5.1

If you have installed DOS support under ArcaOS 5.1.x on a UEFI-based system, you may be able to gain another 64K or so of usable conventional DOS memory by disabling the Compatibility Support Module (CSM) in the system BIOS.

This 64K may be a game changer for applications using EMS, as conventional memory can run out of room for pointers to EMS locations. An example here would be Lotus 1-2-3 for DOS with a large spreadsheet.

It is also important to note that it may not be possible to disable the CSM on some systems, either due to BIOS restrictions or other system functions where the CSM is required for ArcaOS. However, in general, the Arca Noae Compatibility System (ANCS) should provide the necessary support for ArcaOS without the aid of the CSM. The good news is that if the system does not boot properly without the CSM enabled or if something doesn’t seem to function as expected, it can always be enabled again with no harm to the existing ArcaOS installation.

So, if you find yourself in need of just that little extra bit of conventional DOS memory, check the CSM setting in the system BIOS and see if you can disable it.

Why update or upgrade to ArcaOS 5.1.1?

If you’re holding off upgrading from ArcaOS 5.0 to 5.1 or updating from 5.1.0 to 5.1.1, here are a few things to consder to get you off the fence.

ArcaOS 5.1.1, over a year and a half in development, incorporates over 50 improvements and refinements, from smoother installation and better integration with other operating systems to better stability and usability of the system. Here are a few points to consider from the changelog:

Now available in four languages (with more on the way): English, German, Spanish, and Russian. More comfortable computing in your native language? This is all made easier with ArcaOS 5.1.1.
For existing English installations, upgrading from 5.0 or updating from 5.1.0 could not be easier. Back up your system, boot from the installation media, select the option to update/upgrade, and select your existing installation from the list. The rest of the procedure is automatic.
Multimedia support has been upgraded and enhanced. Not only has the multimedia subsystem been translated to the system language, but if you have a CD collection and a modern PC, ArcaOS now handles digital transfers and supports the GnuDB CD track identification database.
Both remote control of the ArcaOS system and control of other systems from ArcaOS has been greatly enhanced with a new VNC server and client, supporting features found in UltraVNC, such as chat, file transfer, and encryption for web clients.
Of course we’ve also included the latest ACPI and updated device drivers for USB, video, mouse (new, major revision), FAT32 filesystem (for better interoperability and data exchange with other operating systems), and even a new keyboard driver for better operation on more hardware.

In short, 5.1.1 is the most stable, best performing ArcaOS release to date, and provides a truly modern OS/2 computing experience for PCs. It’s also quite at home in a virtual environment, running under Oracle VirtualBox or VMware ESXi or Workstation.

Best of all, for ArcaOS 5.1 licensees with active support subscriptions, the update from 5.1.0 to 5.1.1 is absolutely free. Let your subscription lapse? You can still renew and get the 5.1.1 release for no additional charge. Still running 5.0? Now is a great time to take advantage of the steep upgrade discounts offered to upgraders.

Arca Noae Managing Member, Lewis Rosenthal, to speak at Warpstock Europe 2025

It’s official: Arca Noae’s Managing Member, Lewis Rosenthal, is scheduled be live and in person at Warpstock Europe 2025 in Amersfoort, The Netherlands, May 16-18, to speak about Arca Noae, ArcaOS, new features in version 5.1.1, and future plans for the OS.

More information on this informative event is available on the Warpstock Europe website.