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Archiver > ALT-GENEALOGY > 2000-04 > 0955415808


From: Dale DePriest <>
Subject: Re: Fast DOS Web Browsers
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 18:16:48 -0700


Hmm, this thread has way to young a perspective. To match genealogy you
must check the genealogy of the problem.

You have to go back to the days of Windows and dos and watch the
development of microsoft as it trashed Lotus by making secret calls that
lotus couldn't use but xcel could use and making the public calls buggy
so Lotus wouldn't run as well. Secret calls were all the norm in those
days to make 3rd part tools not do well. It was so bad that folks
signed non-disclosure agreements to be able to look at the win95 source
code. The non-disclosure agreements prevented them from developing apps
for any other os which effectively killed OS/2.

OS/2 was a great operating system that really gave the users a choice
and it ran windows apps better than windows itself did. Once IBM's
contract with microsoft ran out microsoft developed there modifications
to windows to prevent IBM from being able to run any new windows
software. It took them 31 trys to break os2 but they finally
succeeded. To bad we don't have os2 as a choice for an operating system
any longer. (Note that os2 is still being sold in commercail accounts
but without any new apps it is dead)

Then came java, a universal application from sun that would run on any
platform. Microsoft has tried to change it so that it won't work on any
other operating system. Even now they have choices in asp so that
netscape users won't be able to use this code. So much for choices.

Netscape tried to sell a browser but microsoft gave theirs away thereby
killing nescape as a company. They ended up being bought by aol and
having to give their stuff away.

So much for choices in operating systems. Of course Linux (which is
given away free) is trying to compete but how can they make money?

This is just a brief summary. You can go back even further and there
are plenty of other cases of this sort of activity.

I really miss a choice of operating systems.

Dale

Robert Heiling wrote:
>
> Dave Hinz wrote:
>
> > Henry F. Brownlee () wrote:
> >
> > : Not at all. It is more like having to take a cigar lighter or radio with the
> > : car. You are under no obligation to use either one. You can choose what ever
> > : "gas station" you wish, such as Netscape. Or if you do use the radio, you
> > : are not obliged to listen to any particular station. You can just browse
> > : around until you find one you like.
> >
> > Close, but it's more like "You get a free radio with the car. You can
> > chose another radio,
>
> That's very true. I use Netscape even though I have Win98 and have used other
> browsers in the past.
>
> > but of course we've unfairly exploited our
> > position as a monopoly and harmed the consumer by forcing our competition
> > away from the marketplace, by our illegal market practices".
>
> How so? Netscape is alive & well! There is even a Linux version. No such MS
> Explorer under Linux<g>.
>
> > At least, if
> > you believe the Justice Department. In this instance I happen to agree
> > with them.
>
> Not I.
>
> > Ah, but this is getting kinda off-topic.
>
> Off-topiv for which group that it is cross-posted to? alt.genealogy or soc.
> genealogy.computing? Car radios have primitive computers, cigarette lighters can
> be used to power laptops running genealogy, and you can listen to genealogy
> programs over the radio<vbg?.
>
> > Dave Hinz
>
> Bob :-)

--
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Dale -- http://users.cwnet.com/daled

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