Although the Workplace Shell can provide the inexperienced user with this ideal working environment requiring no knowledge of how OS/2 works, there are many users who are already quite comfortable with basic computing concepts. These users could feel frustrated if they were denied the ability to access the files, directories and programs with which they are familiar.
The Workplace Shell does not prevent this. For example, it provides the Drives object, offering similar function to the file managers of OS/2 Version 1.3 or Microsoft Windows**. The Program Reference object class provides a way to install and run ordinary - non-Workplace Shell - programs. OS/2 and DOS command prompts may be invoked, allowing the use of commands some of which date back over 10 years to the first releases of DOS. Workplace Shell is also so flexible that a user can set it up to look and behave very much like OS/2 Version 1.3 or Windows, if that is what is preferred.
So, experienced PC users may find the Workplace Shell unfamiliar at first, and may not even fully understand the point of it, but they have the option of working in whatever way they choose - using a command prompt if they want to, or perhaps an interface similar to OS/2 Version 1.3 or Windows. In time, they may learn to to think in a less computer-oriented way and start using the additional productivity features of the Workplace Shell.