This chapter discussed many of the techniques supported by the Workplace Shell.
The primary navigation techniques which let the user work with those objects are slightly different from those used by Presentation Manager V1.3, but are at the same time more consistent. The emphasis on direct manipulation helps provide much of this enhanced consistency but enforces the need for a user to have a mouse if he is to perform many basic tasks.
The new WPS objects and techniques offer greatly increased flexibility for organizing work to suit the user. These objects can be rearranged to provide new ways of doing the kinds of activities most users are familiar with. In particular, direct manipulation allows users to perform activities with greater ease, and better feedback, than before.
The Workplace Shell makes OS/2 V2.0 much easier to "personalize" than previous versions of OS/2. Users can easily change one object, the whole system and even the menus of individual items. The shell can even be made to look like OS/2 Version 1.3 to suit the preferences of those users who are not yet ready to tackle an object-oriented user interface.