ALT-GENEALOGY-L Archives

Archiver > ALT-GENEALOGY > 2000-04 > 0955421647


From: Robert Heiling <>
Subject: Re: Fast DOS Web Browsers
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 19:54:07 -0700


Dale DePriest wrote:

> 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.

That is utter nonsense! The system that I am writing this from has Win98 installed
and its corresponding DOS version. There is no problem running Lotus nor running
VP-Planner, which is a Lotus knockoff written by Adam Osborne's Paperback Books. I
still use it<g>.

> 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)

R.I.P.

> 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.

I run Netscape 4.7 under Win98 & Linux and have experienced no problems.

> 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.

You don't seem to understand the current marketplace.

> 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?

Who are "they"? Do you mean RedHat, Caldera, etc etc? They don't appear to be
suffering.

> 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.

You didn't even indicate which ones you use, but I see you are running WinNT. Do you
also have Linux? CPM? Win98? I have all of those available.

Bob

> 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 :-)
>
> --
> For GPS data see: Joe -- http://joe.mehaffey.com
> Peter -- http://www.vancouver-webpages.com/peter/
> Karen -- http://www.gpsy.com/gpsinfo/
> Dale -- http://users.cwnet.com/daled

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