This is off topic for this list, but I must take exception to several
point in this article.
>
> Date: Tue, 9 Sep 97 18:05:16 +0100
> From: Pio_Gaeta @
europe .
notes .
pw .
com
> Subject: Microsoft vs The world
>
>
> But they didn't. So Apple released the Macintosh, and the first
> windows-type computer was publicly released. So why, then, didn't
> Apple take over the world?
>
> Because they made one fatal mistake that Bill Gates had already
> foreseen and *not* made: the Macintosh operating system was
> proprietary. It would only run on Macintosh hardware.
Bill Gates had nothing to do with the hardware. IBM developed
the hardware and failed to patent it. It was IBM's mistake that
caused the proliferation of cheap PC Hardware.
>
> There are other operating systems, such as VMS, which went the same
> route; their insistence on being hardware-proprietary kept them from
> broad market acceptance in the long term.
VMS is a server based operating system, and comparing it to Windows
is ridiculous.
>
> Besides making Windows able to run on all the most popular hardware
> platforms, Microsoft also did something else: They made it very
> user-friendly, in its installation, in its setup, and in its
> operation. Add that to its "open-ness", and its popularity was
> virtually guaranteed.
Microsoft Windows does not run on all hardware platforms, only on
Intel hardware. And saying Windows is open is ludicrous. Where
is the source code? How many books are published on how the
Windows kernel is put together?
>
> Despite all the complaints, despite all the Justice Department
> investigations, despite all the cries of "monopoly!", Microsoft has
> taken over the market because it makes life easy for the most
> important person in the market: the user.
The anti-trust investigations, etc. are not because of Microsofts
popularity, they stem from Microsoft's strong-arm marketing tactics.
i.e. When they make a deal with a hardware manufacturer to supply
Windows on their hardware, that manufacturer can supply no other
operating system on that hardware. That is just one example.
>
> ######################################################
> - ------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I think we cannot disagree with this.
We can, and if you don't then I've got a bridge in Brooklyn that
I'll sell you. Some of this 'article' is so ludicrous that I
wonder whether or not it's a joke.
--
Jeff Fisher
UNIX Sys Admin - IES Industries
|
|
