To take full advantage of the 32-bit flat memory model implemented by OS/2 Version 2.0, a full set of 32-bit application programming interfaces is provided for developers. This allows memory allocation in logical units dictated by the requirements of the application rather than by the constraints of the segmented memory model implemented under previous versions of OS/2. Simplified memory management within an application allows developers to write applications that may be more easily migrated to other operating system platforms, perhaps running on non-Intel processors.
These 32-bit applications are executed as protected mode processes within the system, and have the same multitasking, multithreading, memory protection and interprocess communication facilities available to 16-bit applications, plus some additional facilities implemented under OS/2 Version 2.0.