• What would today's OS be is SCP didn't sell DOS?
    17 replies, posted
In history. Microsoft produced MS-DOS in an effort to sell a product to IBM for their new PC. They successfully managed to cut out a deal where IBM bought their operating system and in return Microsoft received a royalty for each copy of MS-DOS IBM sold. This was extended to third party vendors too when the clones flooded the market. This was Microsoft's big hit which made them grow to the superpower today that they are. They are pretty much everywhere. MS-DOS however was based off an older operating system called 86-DOS which was created by Seattle Computer Products. Microsoft bought the source code off them for a sum of cash. But what would of happened if Seattle Computer Products decided not to sell 86-DOS? Wouldn't that of meant the end of Microsoft? There's no way back in the 80's they could of expanded their business off an office productivity suite. This means things like Windows Mobile and the Xbox would not exist. The other thing would be that MS-DOS would not exist and ANYTHING that was created by, for, or with MS-DOS (that includes Windows) would also not exist. Now that is a MASSIVE hole to fill and there is no way that computers would of just flatlined for over 25 years so obviously there had to be someone else back in the 80's who would of instead successfully marketed an operating system and grew an enterprise from that but who? Apple had their own break but I doubt that without Microsoft they would of taken over the pie slice Microsoft would of been.
unix probably would have ended up being the dominant OS
[QUOTE=wlzshroom;32547843]unix probably would have ended up being the dominant OS[/QUOTE] Or Mac Os. :byodood: I'm kidding but I don't think it would've changed much. Whichever one became dominant would probably be like Windows is now: full of games and programs that can't run on other platforms.
Looking at [url=http://inventors.about.com/od/computersoftware/a/Putting-Microsoft-On-The-Map.htm]this article[/url], it would probably be Gary Kildall's CP/M OS, or something like Unix.
The version of DOS Microsoft bought was made by a single programmer, which for some reason had his own registered company name (early indie dev?) for the grand total of $50,000. If I were that guy, I would have hanged myself for making such a terrible deal.
Considering everything you cannot see into the future to know that Windows is such a power house today, beside I think that 50,000 would be nice for some money to have.
[QUOTE=bohb;32549972]The version of DOS Microsoft bought was made by a single programmer, which for some reason had his own registered company name (early indie dev?) for the grand total of $50,000. If I were that guy, I would have hanged myself for making such a terrible deal.[/QUOTE] I'm sure Microsoft gave him something as a thanks, even if just a million or a job.
[QUOTE=Tools;32551751]I'm sure Microsoft gave him something as a thanks, even if just a million or a job.[/QUOTE] HAHA, I'm guessing you never saw 'Pirates of Silicon Valley'
[QUOTE=bohb;32552267]HAHA, I'm guessing you never saw 'Pirates of Silicon Valley'[/QUOTE] It's not really a documentary, you know? It's a 'semi-humorous documentary' To be honest, that's kind of like saying Takedown is an accurate documentary about Kevin Mitnick.
[QUOTE=Tools;32551751]I'm sure Microsoft gave him something as a thanks, even if just a million or a job.[/QUOTE] Even if it is humorous and exaggerated, it more or less tells the truth about Microsoft; They're a cut throat software monopoly that has destroyed competition with near criminal methods in the past, and continue to do so to this day. People like that bite the heads off of people that help them, not reward. Take a look at what happened to IBM and OS/2 Warp, Microsoft completely obliterated that product from the market before it ever got off the ground in the market. It wasn't the first, and won't be the last.
[QUOTE=bohb;32553291]Even if it is humorous and exaggerated, it more or less tells the truth about Microsoft; They're a cut throat software monopoly that has destroyed competition with near criminal methods in the past, and continue to do so to this day. People like that bite the heads off of people that help them, not reward. Take a look at what happened to IBM and OS/2 Warp, Microsoft completely obliterated that product from the market before it ever got off the ground in the market. It wasn't the first, and won't be the last.[/QUOTE] I'd say that's terrible but that's pretty normal for large corporations these days, unfortunately.
there would probably still be some nasty separation between various platforms, all the companies on top today got there through really messed up business practices.
[QUOTE=Niteshifter;32549399]Looking at [url=http://inventors.about.com/od/computersoftware/a/Putting-Microsoft-On-The-Map.htm]this article[/url], it would probably be Gary Kildall's CP/M OS, or something like Unix.[/QUOTE] 64-bit CP/M sounds painful. I'm sure hoping something like GEM had advanced far enough by 2011. [img]http://netdna.webdesignerdepot.com/uploads/2009/03/gem_11_desktop1.png[/img]
[QUOTE=bohb;32553291]Even if it is humorous and exaggerated, it more or less tells the truth about Microsoft; They're a cut throat software monopoly that has destroyed competition with near criminal methods in the past, and continue to do so to this day. People like that bite the heads off of people that help them, not reward. Take a look at what happened to IBM and OS/2 Warp, Microsoft completely obliterated that product from the market before it ever got off the ground in the market. It wasn't the first, and won't be the last.[/QUOTE] And it seems like Apple learned a thing or two from Microsoft then :haw:
Linux dominant race.
[QUOTE=P320;32560566]Linux dominant race.[/QUOTE] There's quite a few Linux elements that would not exist if Windows did not exist. Like I mentioned: It feels that if DOS didn't exist, a lot of things would simply not exist as we know them. It could quite possibly still have a dated X window look still or even worse, look like one of the other Unix window systems like CDE or the NeXT Workspace Manager.
[QUOTE=MIPS;32562067]There's quite a few Linux elements that would not exist if Windows did not exist. Like I mentioned: It feels that if DOS didn't exist, a lot of things would simply not exist as we know them. It could quite possibly still have a dated X window look still or even worse, look like one of the other Unix window systems like CDE or the NeXT Workspace Manager.[/QUOTE]but I like afterstep :saddowns:
[QUOTE=Tools;32551751]I'm sure Microsoft gave him something as a thanks, even if just a million or a job.[/QUOTE] He worked for Microsoft back and forth a few times. [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Paterson[/url]
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