Yes, BSD may have used this partition type before Thinkpads (although Thinkpads have had this kind of suspend feature for a long, long time).
Apparently, thinkpads used partition type 160 (a0) until now. FreeBSD used 165 (a5).
But messing around with its BIOS and suspend feature would be a major risk for IBM; I can understand that they don't want to do that.
Messing around is exactly what IBM did. Instead of sticking with the previously used partition type, they changed to one that conflicts with another known use.
In such cases, realistically, open source software is what can and probably should adapt.
Re:BSD should probably adapt (Score:2)
Apparently, thinkpads used partition type 160 (a0) until now. FreeBSD used 165 (a5).
Messing around is exactly what IBM did. Instead of sticking with the previously used partition type, they changed to one that conflicts with another known use.
Or return the Thinkpads and don't buy more. Too bad IBM didn't bother to go to google and search for "partition list" [google.com] and read the first hit.