If you simply want to explore the OS/2 platform without verification, you can legally download the older from certain abandonware archives. However, that version lacks modern drivers, UEFI support, and security patches.

Unlike community-driven Linux distributions where you can rely on a thousand peer reviewers, ArcaOS is a commercial product with a smaller user base. This niche status makes it a target for malicious actors who repackage old beta versions or inject rootkits.

In the world of modern computing, the name "OS/2" might sound like a relic from a bygone era—a whisper from the days of dial-up internet and floppy disks. Yet, for a dedicated community of enterprise users, retro-computing enthusiasts, and legacy system administrators, OS/2 is far from dead. Its modern, actively maintained descendant is ArcaOS .

https://www.arcanoae.com