|
Post by Admin_Vistamike on Feb 19, 2014 13:23:14 GMT
It’s the 1970s. At work, we rely on typewriters. If we need to copy a document, we likely use a mimeograph or carbon paper. Few have heard of microcomputers, but two young computer enthusiasts, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, see that personal computing is a path to the future. In 1975, Gates and Allen form a partnership called Microsoft. Like most start-ups, Microsoft begins small, but has a huge vision—a computer on every desktop and in every home. During the next years, Microsoft begins to change the ways we work. A timeline from the MS history page(s)>>>>>And another interesting site to peruse: winsource.com/2013/11/12/windows-through-the-years/
|
|
|
Post by irvsp on Feb 19, 2014 16:29:35 GMT
Well, in a series of events, sometimes something that seemed small at the time can make a BIG difference. Gary Kildall ( www.boerner.net/jboerner/?m=20100304) could have been the one with the fame of Bill Gates. Gates didn't even have an OS when IBM spoke to him ( www.skrause.org/computers/os_history.shtml) but after IBM wasn't able to work with Kildall, he purchased one and used that as the base for PC-DOS. MORE on this as well. Along the way working with IBM both companies changed the computing landscape. The OS most use now, differing versions of Windows, evolved from a few sources. DOS was a single tasking OS, and limited by the CPU. When the Intel 286's arrived, real mode multi-tasking was possible, but no OS was written for it. DOS was still a single tasking OS. IBM and MS started working on a multi-tasking OS, ADOS or Advanced DOS. MS alone started on Windows, a Graphical Interface to DOS that did the apparent multi-tasking. IBM was also working on its version. Essentially using the H/W to switch tasks so you could have more than one open at a time and switch between them. Not until OS/2 was there true multi-tasking where 'time slices' of the CPU were used to run more than one program at a time. Both companies had access to the same code until the MS - IBM divorce ( www.nytimes.com/1991/07/27/business/microsoft-widens-its-split-with-ibm-over-software.html). They went different ways after that. Yes, OS/2 was not the success Windows is, and some will offer different reasons for that. Having used both, OS/2 was superior, but like anything else, an OS is a vehicle used to deliver results, and that relies on apps to do the heavy lifting for you. As a developer you either had to produce 2 products that did the same thing or bet on one only. The rest is history.
|
|
|
Post by Lighthouse on Feb 19, 2014 17:05:15 GMT
Irv, did you ever use this ? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DESQviewIt was very good working with 3rd party apps, until you added an MS program, whence it would either not work properly, or would crash.
|
|
|
Post by irvsp on Feb 20, 2014 11:55:02 GMT
Irv, did you ever use this ? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DESQviewIt was very good working with 3rd party apps, until you added an MS program, whence it would either not work properly, or would crash. Yes, tried it, also IBM's TopView. Don't forget, these all were rudimentary 'multi-tasker's. Even Windows 1.x and 2.x were. MS was 'committed' to OS/2 until the sales of Win 3.1 started to take-off. At that point, the partnership started to fracture. A lot of any of these OS's and add-ons were really 'driven' by the h/w then. A 386 did a better job than 286, and these were better than an 8086 CPU... and other parts of the computer helped too, amount of RAM specifically as well as speed of it, the bus, and disk. Building your own system was a lot better than buying 'stock' systems. That is how Dell got going, building 'to suit'. The 'big guys' made a few models and you could only get what they made. I was living in Austin in the late 90's and computer stores stocked parts and sold systems that you could specify parts. I was going to build my own, but I went to one store, specified the parts and they built it for $100 more than the cost of the parts to me, and put it together, tested it, loaded the s/w (basically DOS), even warrantied it for 3 years. Today, almost any computer you can buy will handle any OS and apps you can throw at it. Almost 5 years ago I bought my Dell and picked top-level parts. Since I've added an SSD and replaced the video card with one that is supported under W8.1. Although not as fast as my Wife's 2 year old Dell, it is no slouch and almost as fast booting up, the only thing I can tell is slower than her's. Mostly due to slightly slower RAM and mine is SATA II vs. hers is SATA III, and her CPU is newer and slightly faster (we both have Intel i7's). I can't even FIND an excuse to upgrade to a new one. Just waiting for some parts to fail I guess? It used to a specific app (like VisiCalc) or a game that drove the h/w need. Later first person shooter's did when used on a LAN. Today, again, most computers sold work great for a vast majority of people. Yeah, the power users will always 'want' more, but for the majority, any computer will basically do.
|
|
|
Post by Lighthouse on Feb 20, 2014 12:05:45 GMT
Although I did buy, and use Desqview, there were also 3 freeware apps that did a similar thing. I did test them all, but they were not very good as I recall. i.e, they could only handle a very limited number of programs, as opposed to Desqviews 255. And the images were not nearly as good.
|
|