Microsoft and Unix/Linux (Myths and IP)

[Evan Leibovitch]

Charles philip Chan wrote:
>> Was IBM-DOS first?
>>     
>
> No, must hobbist machines before that uses some form of CP/M. 
>   

Actually, that's not totally accurate. "Most hobbyist machines" at the
time the IBM PC was introduced were using AppleDOS or TRS-DOS or some
other very vendor-specific OS. The _business_ systems used CP/M because
it was necessary to run business apps such as Visicalc or dBASE or stuff
written in COBOL. Osbornes and Kaypros were hardly what anyone would
call "hobbyist systems".

The first Microsoft product I encountered predated the IBM-PC by some
years. It was a kit that included a card that went into an Apple ][ with
a Z80 processor, CP/M and MS-BASIC. That allowed one to run all of those
business apps (and use BASIC to write more) on an Apple.

(And here we are, dozens of years later, and some of the big news in the
world of personal computers is the newfound ability for Apple computers
to run Microsoft applications. How things change...)

In fact, when you purchased one of the original IBM PCs, you were given
a choice -- PC-DOS (IBM's OEM version of MS-DOS 1.1) at $70, or CP/M-86
which cost more than $300. You could but either, but most naturally
chose the less expensive option.

> Ha ha, when I first used WordStar and Lotus 123 (Multiplan was first) on a CP/M machine, Ecel and Word were not even a glimmer in Gate's eyes.
>   
I don't ever recall 1-2-3 ever being available on pre-IBM CP/M. IIRC it
was, in fact, the IBM PC's "killer app" that obsoleted Visicalc almost
overnight.

>> I wonder how many people think the Internet is "owned" by Microsoft?
>>     
About as many as think it was invented by Al Gore.

- Evan

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