<s>
VM/386	B-Operating_System
is	O
a	O
multitasking	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
system	I-Operating_System
or	O
'	O
control	O
program	O
 '	O
that	O
took	O
early	O
advantage	O
of	O
the	O
capabilities	O
of	O
Intel	O
's	O
386	B-General_Concept
processor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
utilizing	O
Virtual	B-Application
8086	I-Application
mode	I-Application
,	O
users	O
were	O
able	O
to	O
run	O
their	O
existing	O
text-based	O
and	O
graphical	O
DOS	O
software	O
in	O
safely	O
separate	O
environments	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unique	O
CONFIG.SYS	B-Device
and	O
AUTOEXEC.BAT	O
files	O
could	O
be	O
configured	O
for	O
each	O
application	O
,	O
and	O
even	O
different	O
DOS	O
versions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1991	O
the	O
vendor	O
announced	O
intentions	O
to	O
support	O
DPMI	O
1.0	O
in	O
VM/386	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
VM/386	B-Operating_System
had	O
initially	O
been	O
developed	O
by	O
Softguard	O
Systems	O
,	O
a	O
producer	O
of	O
copy-protection	O
software	O
,	O
with	O
plans	O
to	O
include	O
features	O
like	O
non-DOS	O
system	O
support	O
,	O
but	O
financial	O
constraints	O
forced	O
its	O
sale	O
to	O
Intelligent	B-Operating_System
Graphics	I-Operating_System
Corporation	I-Operating_System
(	O
IGC	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
launched	O
the	O
product	O
in	O
1987	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
also	O
introduced	O
a	O
multi-user	O
version	O
,	O
which	O
allowed	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
serial	O
terminals	O
and	O
even	O
graphical	O
systems	O
to	O
be	O
connected	O
to	O
a	O
single	O
386	B-General_Concept
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
designed	O
to	O
cooperate	O
with	O
Unix	B-Application
was	O
bundled	O
with	O
Everex	O
Systems	O
workstations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
system	O
now	O
sees	O
use	O
mainly	O
in	O
vertical	O
applications	O
like	O
point-of-sale	O
systems	O
,	O
where	O
its	O
ability	O
to	O
run	O
reliably	O
on	O
cheap	O
,	O
reliable	O
hardware	O
outweigh	O
any	O
gains	O
from	O
newer	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
that	O
are	O
more	O
complex	O
and	O
less	O
reliable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Early	O
competition	O
included	O
DESQview	O
386	B-General_Concept
,	O
Sunny	O
Hill	O
Software	O
's	O
Omniview	O
,	O
StarPath	O
Systems	O
 '	O
Vmos/3	O
,	O
and	O
Windows/386	O
2.01	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
target	O
market	O
shifted	O
away	O
from	O
single-user	O
systems	O
to	O
multiple-user	O
setups	O
with	O
many	O
serial	O
terminals	O
it	O
began	O
to	O
compete	O
more	O
directly	O
with	O
the	O
likes	O
of	O
Multiuser	B-Operating_System
DOS	I-Operating_System
and	O
PC-MOS/386	B-Application
.	O
</s>
