[PLUG-TALK] What Windows Is _Really_ Like

[Keith Lofstrom]

On Mon, Jun 26, 2006 at 03:42:41PM -0700, Michael M. wrote:
> 
> And yet, computer use didn't take off until the industry (writ-large:  
> hardware and software) settled on a standard, and that standard 
> coalesced around Microsoft. ...

Er, uh - Apple?  IBM? 

Microsoft is very good at claiming that they invented the mass
market computer.  Oh well, perhaps if Gary Kildale had been willing
to sign IBM's legal papers, then Digital Research would be globally
dominant and making the same claims.  

The "standard" was designed by IBM, both for hardware and software.
The standard would probably have been OS/2 rather than Windows 95,
if IBM had taken ruthlessness to the same level.  And they still
might;  they have more clout than Microsoft, and after selling off
the PC division to Levono, they are far less vulnerable to Microsoft
machinations.  IBM is practicing their bug-squashing techniques on
SCO, there is a good chance Microsoft is next.

Keith

-- 
Keith Lofstrom          keithl at keithl.com         Voice (503)-520-1993
KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon"
Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Scan ICs