Yet another IBMer (D.L. Harrington, Product Manager, Communication Software Products, Austin) talked about OS/2.

The Communications Manager is a one-size-fits-all communications access method for OS/2. It does nearly everything: 3270 emulation, LU 6.2 protocols, asynchronous file uploads/downloads (XMODEM), LAN requester, et cetera. It takes the place of all the nickel-and-dime add-ons that IBM offers for DOS.

The only communications code not delivered with the Communications Manager is the LAN Server program. That one costs extra. PC-to-PC communications supported: token-ring, LU 6.2, NETBIOS, ASYNC.

PC-to-S/370 communications supported: LU 2, LU 6.2, ASYNC.

PC-to-S/3x communications supported: LU 6.2 only (this will change).

Communications Manager has a process similar to system generation in which you exclude the functions and code you do not want to support (which saves memory space).

CM has contextual help; when you press PF1, the system tries to figure out what kind of help you need before it offers any. It supports a variety of keyboard maps (key reassignment) and comes with a tutorial.