OS/2

This article is a work in progress. …well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editors’ notes.

OS/2-tan
Character Information
Common Names	OS/2-tan
Other Names	Operating System/2, OS/2 Warp, Merlin
Faction	Anti$oft Coalition (leader)
Lineage	x86 DOS?
Rival(s)	The Windows Family, especially NT-tan and 95-tan.
Appearance
Height	171 cm (5'7")
Hair Color	blue with white streaks
Eye Color	blue
Weapon(s)	phaser gun, prehensile hair
Design
First Appearance	Aug 2006
Technical Information
System Personified	OS/2
Developer(s)	Microsoft, IBM
Debut	circa 1987
Latest release	v. 4.5.2 (Dec 2001)

Technical details

OS/2 was released in 1987, the result of a joint venture between IBM and Microsoft. While the collaboration was initially harmonious, the popularity of Windows 3.0 (1990) and subsequent sidelining of OS/2 caused the two companies to go their separate ways. IBM continued to develop OS/2 throughout the 90s, while MS took many design cues from OS/2 in the development of Windows NT (and 95 to a lesser degree).

Ultimately, OS/2 was vastly outsold by Windows, and lost the last of its support from IBM at the end of 2006. However, it is still used in some mission-critical systems and has a devoted following.

Further reading: The History of OS/2 (archive), Wikipedia: OS/2

Character details

Physical

OS/2-tan is represented as a mature woman with light skin, blue eyes typically rendered with catlike slit pupils, and rimless, rectangular glasses. She wears a purple Starfleet uniform, C badge, blue skirt, sheer tights, black knee-boots and a belt with a stylized depiction of the 5-colored OS/2 logo. She carries a phaser.

Her hair is medium blue with light blue or silver streaks. Its length nearly equals her own height, and has the unique ability to move on its own and assist OS/2-tan with multitasking. It's been depicted in six and a half ponytails, or loose.

Personality

Optimistic and studious in her early years, a lifetime of betrayal has left OS/2-tan bitter and volatile, with a reputation for ruthlessness.

She is a natural organizer. Beneath her hardened exterior, she yearns for her long-lost family. Her softer side is exposed by her deep bonds of loyalty to her friends.

Family and relationships

Windows Family

In OSC fanon, OS/2-tan is the stepsister to the DOS-based Windows-tans and NT-tan's sister. She's deeply protective toward Windows 1.0-tan and 2.0-tan, but despises the Windows-tans otherwise, blaming them for both hers and her beloved stepsisters' misfortunes. She carries a particularly strong vendetta against 95-tan and NT-tan.

RISC OS-tan

RISC OS-tan is OS/2-tan's closest confidant and right-hand woman in the Antisoft Coalition. OS/2-tan has unrequited crush on her, but doesn't say anything about it.

eComStation-tan

eComStation-tan is OS/2-tan's self-professed, adoptive little sister, although her exact family is unknown so she may be biologically related to OS/2. While OS/2-tan pins her hopes on eCS-tan as a successor, she has never officially recruited her into the A$C, fearful that she'll repeat her own mistakes, ending up jaded and broken. Still, this doesn't dissuade eCS-tan from joining in on their many schemes.

History and background

OS/2-tan was born to the Microsoft-IBM Family during when the two companies were cooperating. It was a cloistered but happy childhood as she had everything she needed, but saw or dealt with few other OS-tans in the market outside of her immediate family.

She was trained from the start to be the operating system of the future -- although she was a nice girl, she would at times come off as a little overconfident and arrogant. When Windows 2.0-tan was born, OS/2-tan took pity on what she thought would be the last Windows ever created, and looked after her like an overprotective step sister. Soon both would become genuinely friendly though. Her happy childhood started to fall apart with the event of Windows 3.1's (then Windows 3.0-tan) birth. Windows 3.1-tan's success and rumors with other entities to create NT-tan were what led to the Microsoft-IBM Family breaking up.

After the family breakup, she was trained by IBM to be a mean and efficient fighter. While their methods were effective, they were also mercilessly spartan and she was left cloistered even while the Windows-tans were quickly expanding their horizons. She took the loss of her family hard, but was still firmly loyal to her company. Plus it was her hope that in defeating the Windows line, the victor could decide the rules, hence, she originally intended to fight in order to get her family back. It was during the OS Wars of the mid 90's that she finally got a chance to face off against the Windows champion 95-tan -- the battle that ensued was long and hard, and although OS/2-tan almost succeeded, her company sabotaged her effort (which may or may not have been intentional), handing the victory to 95-tan.

This loss, plus IBM's growing indifference to her, her lonely life and watching the world fall in love with the Windows-tans drove her insane and vengeful. Since she was still too loyal to take out her frustrations on IBM, she focused all of it on the Windows-tans. She founded and leads the Anti$oft Coalition with the hope of vanquishing the Windows Family for the injustices caused to her and others because of their imperialism.

Even though OS/2's last bit of company support was discontinued at the end of 2006, and that OS/2 will not become Open Source despite petitions by many loyal users, OS/2-tan has not given up her ambitions and will continue them into the foreseeable future.

Notes

• Her backstory was drafted before OS/2's last support was dropped, one alternate interpretation is that after that happened, she would grow to come to terms with the past, and abandon her vendettas even though it would be among the most emotionally painful things she has done; in the process though, she won't need to keep her successor at a distance, and over time would also gain the trust of the friendlier and more forgiving Windows-tans before eventually reconciling with old rivals.