Not to be defensive of Microsoft, but the OS2 thing was aimed at trying
to recapture market share that IBM lost to Microsoft.
OS2 was a complete departure from the Windows environment because IBM
wanted to sever the link so that people would have to buy IBM hardware
to use the "Advanced" operating system.
On the other hand, Microsoft did not want to leave anybody behind so
they migrated the 16 bit system gradually with hooks in the 32 bit
systems back to DOS and 16 bit versions of Windows.
By opening the architecture of their PC's IBM created a huge market by
allowing all the clone makers to copy their system's functionality.
That was necessary to counteract the growing Apple inertia. It was
successful but IBM saw that they could not continue to grow their
business as they wanted to and let the clone makers continue to erode
their market share. So they designed the PS2 archetecture and did not
share it the way they did in the original PC. The release of OS2 was
timed to coincide with the release of the PS2 archetecture. They also
wrote the code so that it would run on clones but not as effectively as
on their PS2. To their dismay, neither the PS2 or OS2 products took off
they way they intended.
Joe
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-triumphs@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-triumphs@autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Don Malling
Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2005 9:40 AM
To: triumphs@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Off topic....for sure!
Interesting to note that IBM's OS/2 was a real operating system from day
1 -- some 15 or so years
ago. It ran in protected mode with preemptive multi-tasking. (unlike
M$'s amateurish attempts at
cooperative multi-tasking and crash on everything else in the system
mode -- real junk).
And it beat 95 to market, and could run any 16 bit Windows code better
than 95.
But as one person on the list once said it lacked quality because it
didn't sell, and the M$ crap
did sell. Kind'a like pornography and Triumphs I guess -- pornography
sells and Triumphs didn't. So
there you have it.
Don Malling
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