16 Sep
1998
16 Sep
'98
1:10 p.m.
Eric Smith wrote:
The original posting claimed that if Apple hadn't
been successful, we
wouldn't be running GUIs. This is absurd; Microsoft was aware of the Xerox
work before Apple developed the Lisa, and had in fact hired some ex-Xerox
people. Windows might have been released later, but it still would have
happened. And if Microsoft hadn't done it, someone else would have.
I did not say there wouldn't be GUIs. But without the competition
between the Mac OS and Microsoft, I seriously doubt there would have
been anything close to the marketing pressure brought to bear. Hell,
I'm using a GUI even as I type, XFree86, so I can have several xterms
visible simultaneously while I'm using Netscrape. I'd estimate that
GUIs would have maybe 30% of the market penetration they have now
without that competition. And yes, there's a plus -- the demands of
Windows has spurred vastly the development of video and multimedia
hardware, as well as pushing for faster CPUs. So I can recompile my
Linux kernel in a small fraction of the time it would have taken
otherwise. The black cloud of Windows has produced a silver lining.
--
Ward Griffiths <mailto:gram@cnct.com> <http://www.cnct.com/home/gram/>
When I was crossing the border into Canada, they asked me if I had any
firearms with me. I said "Well, what do you need?" -- Steven Wright