Tag Archives: software

What happens when a subscription expires?

Subscriptions must be renewed to remain in force. Allowing a subscription to lapse or expire will cause the following actions in the customer’s account:

The order details, accessed through the customer portal, will no longer have downloads available. Any updates or interim enhancements released in this manner will no longer be accessible.
Subscription-only content available from the relevant Arca Noae subscription repository/ies will no longer be accessible.
For ArcaOS, the ISO download will no longer be accessible.
Access to the Mantis bug tracker to open new issues, report on existing issues, or as a knowledgebase of reference material will no longer be available.
Subscribing again after a subscription has lapsed will not qualify for any renewal discounts.

We highly recommend maintaining archives of any downloaded content, as it may not be possible to access this again (even the last versions available when the subscription was in force).

eCo Software Runtime packages updated

Arca Noae is pleased to announce the availability of updated eCo Software Runtime packages, downloadable from our downloadables page.

The eCo Software Runtime packages provide support libraries for several components of ArcaOS and eCS, as well as eCo Software applications. The four packages which comprise the set have all been updated as of 2017-11-13, and the Base package was further updated on 2017-11-15.

These packages are provided by Arca Noae as a convenience to our customers, clients, and the community at large. Arca Noae does not produce these packages, and the software is provided “as is” without any warranty of any kind. Support for the eCo Software Runtime is provided by eCo Software, in their support forum.

Our first ever Black Friday Sale!

Arca Noae is launching our first ever Black Friday Sale!

If you’ve been waiting to get an ArcaOS license, either as a return to OS/2 after a long absence or because you’ve heard the buzz about the breakthrough Blue Lion distribution, or even if you’re a current ArcaOS licensee and want an additional license or two — or three — for some other systems, now is the time.

ArcaOS 5.0 personal edition licenses are on sale for just $109 from now through the end of 2017. Personal edition licenses include six months of support and updates, and after that, annual support renewals are available for a great price.

ArcaOS 5.0 commercial edition licenses are on sale for just $195 from now through the end of 2017, and include a full year of support and updates.

Get your ArcaOS licenses while they’re available at these great discounts!

ArcaOS 5 included Support & Maintenance Subscription length

We have recently become aware of some possible confusion surrounding the amount of time (term) of included support for personal vs commercial edition licenses of ArcaOS 5. It therefor seemed appropriate to review our website content, and to our surprise, we find that we really have not done a good enough job of making this particular — though critical — issue very clear. Hopefully, this post will set the record straight.

In an earlier post, we discussed the process for renewing subscriptions, and mentioned that it was renewal season for early adopters of ArcaOS 5. That reference was to those who purchased personal edition licenses for ArcaOS 5 six (6) months ago.

ArcaOS 5.0 personal edition includes six (6) months of Support & Maintenance.

ArcaOS 5.0 commercial edition includes twelve (12) months (one full year) of Support & Maintenance.

Renewal reminders are normally sent one month prior to expiration, one week prior, and finally on the day of expiration.

Although the personal and commercial editions of ArcaOS 5 are code-equivalent (there is no difference in the operating system or kernel itself, e.g., both support up to 32 processor cores and an unlimited number of connections, with the same storage volume types and capacities and included device drivers and applications), there are other differences between the two, namely the level of support and the term (length of time) of the included subscription. The commercial edition includes prioritized support for twelve months (one year), whereas the personal edition includes standard support for six months.

Support renewals for both editions are for one year. For example, a personal edition license purchased June 1, 2017 will be due for a Support & Maintenance subscription renewal on or before November 30, 2017 and the renewal will extend the support a full year until November 30, 2018. A commercial edition license purchased the same day (June 1, 2017) will be due for a Support & Maintenance subscription renewal on or before May 31, 2018 and the renewal will extend the support for a full year until May 31, 2019.

If you miss the deadline for a timely renewal of your included Support & Maintenance subscription, you may still “renew” your subscription at the regular price. Missed the deadline because you didn’t receive your reminder emails for some reason? No problem. Just contact us or open a customer service ticket, and we will be glad to help make things right. That’s our commitment to you as an ArcaOS licensee.

Finally, for those of you with existing OS/2 & eCS Drivers & Software subscriptions, concerned about the differences between the two subscription “tracks,” we have a handy table which compares the two, available here.

We believe there are compelling reasons to move up to ArcaOS 5, and to keep in force a Support & Maintenance subscription, ensuring regular updates and the availability of technical assistance for the operating system as a whole. While there is no requirement to renew Support & Maintenance to continue using ArcaOS 5, doing so ensures uninterrupted access to updates, refreshed installation ISOs, and support.

Please review this post for the specifics on how to renew your existing subscription.

New subscription renewal process

It’s renewal season for early adopters of ArcaOS 5, and with that, comes a new renewal process for all subscriptions.

As expiration dates approach, renewal reminders will be emailed. In each reminder is a link to the original order as well as a link to add the renewal to the shopping cart. Be sure to log in first before clicking the links. Reminders are sent one month before expiration, one week before, and on the day of expiration. A renewal extends ArcaOS support and maintenance for one full year.

The original order will also have a handy renewal link, so there is no need to wait for a reminder. Just log into your customer portal at Arca Noae and access your order for ArcaOS to add it to your cart. (Renewals for other subscriptions are now handled the same way.)

ArcaOS Support & Maintenance subscriptions renewed before expiration qualify for a 10% discount, too. Note that the full price will be reflected in the cart but the discount will be shown at checkout. It is still possible to renew an expired ArcaOS Support & Maintenance subscription after it has expired, but without the renewal discount.

Be sure to order the correct subscription! The OS/2 & eCS Drivers & Software subscription is for non-ArcaOS systems, and does not include support or updates for ArcaOS. Likewise, the ArcaOS Support & Maintenance subscription is only for ArcaOS systems, and is not available for purchase without an ArcaOS license.

If you currently have an active OS/2 & eCS Drivers & Software subscription as well as an ArcaOS license, and you no longer need to maintain OS/2 Warp or eComStation systems, you may trade in your subscription for additional time or a discount on your ArcaOS Support & Maintenance subscription. See the Subscription Trade-Up Request form for details.

Handy links:

Subscription comparison table
Subscription Trade-Up Request
Frequently Asked Questions
ArcaOS Wiki

October 2017 happenings

ArcaOS 5.0.2 in the works

We are hard at work finalizing the last bits to be included in ArcaOS 5.0.2. Among the enhancements and features are a few bug fixes, updates to included RPM packages, updated Samba client, and the new ability to install from an ArcaOS bootable USB stick (or local partition). We call this new feature AltBoot, and it is a milestone for OS/2. This should assist those with USB 2.0 capability but no optical drives in getting ArcaOS installed and running.

Arca Noae experimental YUM repository access now restricted

In an effort to better ensure the integrity of packages provided by Arca Noae in our release and subscription channels, we have now restricted access to the arcanoae-exp repository to developers and the test team only.

Rest assured, any software which you may have installed from the experimental repository will continue to function just as it did before. However, we strongly urge that if you have installed the arcanoae-exp RPM to configure the experimental repository in Arca Noae Package Manager (ANPM) or YUM, you uninstall that package. It will be withdrawn from the Netlabs stable repository shortly.

Firefox 45.9 RPM coming soon to an Arca Noae YUM repository near you

Firefox 45.9 GA should be arriving soon for installation via ANPM as part of the subscription content for ArcaOS licensees with active support and maintenance and Drivers & Software subscribers. This new packaging should ease the burden of upgrades by managing dependencies and better ensuring a successful installation. More details will be provided in an upcoming post. (Of course Firefox is free for all to download as zip from Netlabs. There is no requirement to maintain a subscription with Arca Noae in order to get the latest Firefox for OS/2.)

If you are still running OS/2 and/or eComStation systems and haven’t yet purchased a software subscription, this is a great reason to do so now. It may also be a good time to consider moving up to ArcaOS.

Have an enterprise Windows XP application and can’t upgrade Windows?

Talk to us about the possibility of wrapping that Windows XP (or 2000 or even NT 4) app and running it under Odin32. Similar to running an application in a container under Linux, the application itself is the only thing running in a Windows-compatibility environment, while the rest of the system is not subject to Windows security vulnerabilities on the LAN or on the internet. In this configuration, the only user training required is getting the system booted, authenticating to the network, and clicking the program object to start the same Windows application with which your users are already familiar.

Have a Windows application which requires LAN transport, but the version of Windows now in use is too outmoded for the latest file transport security? No problem. Applications running under Odin32 on ArcaOS which need to access network shares may do so using the integrated Samba 4 networking in ArcaOS, which appears to the application to be a local drive. All authentication, security, and transport encryption (if so configured) happens at the ArcaOS level, outside the Windows environment.

Maintain your critical applications on OS/2, DOS, or 16 or 32-bit Windows, on modern hardware or virtualized, while running on a secure, stable, maintained platform: ArcaOS 5.

Note: Any application accessing the public internet may be at risk. ArcaOS itself cannot defend a Windows application running under it against such exploits, if that application is vulnerable to attack.

Crediting your remaining OS/2 & eCS Drivers & Software subscription toward ArcaOS

As promised (though a little late), for those of you wishing to trade in your remaining OS/2 & eCS Drivers & Software subscription time against the purchase of ArcaOS, you may now do so by following the directions on the Subscription Trade-up Request form, located here. The form includes handy tables listing the cash value of your remaining time as well as the number of equivalent months of an ArcaOS Support & Maintenance subscription, for both personal and commercial licenses.

Three request options are available to you:

Additional time on your included ArcaOS support & maintenance subscription; or
Credit toward the renewal of your included ArcaOS support & maintenance subscription; or
Cash rebate (considered for ArcaOS purchases made with 12 months remaining on the subscription being traded)

You will need some information regarding the subscription being traded and your ArcaOS purchase. Simply fill in the form and submit. Please allow 7-10 days before acknowledgement of your submission.

Even if you ordered your subscription and/or ArcaOS license through one of our partners, Arca Noae will handle your trade-up request.

Want to learn more about using ArcaOS? Come to Warpstock 2017 in Toronto!

Warpstock as an event has been around since 1997. Since its inception, the goal of Warpstock has been to educate and expose users to OS/2, its available software, and how to get the most out of the environment. In addition, Warpstock has always been a great venue for meeting developers and engineers involved with OS/2 and its derivative operating systems, including eComStation and ArcaOS.

This year’s Warpstock event is scheduled for September 8-10 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Several key members of the ArcaOS development team will be on hand to present, answer questions, and take suggestions to improve the operating system as we continue to move toward the 5.1 release, planned for later next year.

More information about Warpstock, its history, past speakers and presentations, and this year’s event may be found on Warpstock’s site: http://www.warpstock.org.

Come join us in Toronto!

eCo Software Runtime packages updated

Arca Noae is pleased to announce the availability of updated eCo Software Runtime packages, downloadable from our downloadables page.