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# apple did not come out with windows
both companies produced seperate software based upon Xerox's desktop environment.

i don't believe that companies were forced to put windows on at that time, but there was very little choice software in terms of a usable operation system at the time, microsoft saw an opening by offering heavily discounted software to companies making desktop computers, a model whic stuck, i don't think apple offered their operating system to any other third party manufacturer during that time.
(, Thu 6 Oct 2011, 18:51, archived)
# but apple came up with windows before microsoft, that's what i meant
As for the forcing, M$ changed their licensing agreements so pc manufacturers had to include windows (and (I think) no other operating system), if they wanted to continue using MS-DOS which was by then already entrenched. This meant no other fancy graphical operating system (Linux, BSD etc) could get a look-in on the new PC clones being churned out.

Or something like that - see this: www.spectacle.org/0901/maloney.html
(, Thu 6 Oct 2011, 19:05, archived)
# no, xerox came up with a desktop environment that both companies based their software on
hence when they tried to have a pop at each other about 'stealing' the desktop environment neither had a leg to stand on.

microsoft saw a market opportunity to get manufacturers to commit to supplying their software (of which there were scant other operating systems that were usable at the time) with their systems.

to my recollection apple never offered their operation system to any other party except using it on their own prebuilt systems, thus controlling both the software and hardware of their business.
(, Thu 6 Oct 2011, 19:44, archived)
# "apple came up with windows before microsoft"
Emphasis on "before", I know Xerox did it first :) It was only when M$ saw what Apple had done with Xerox's system that they realised that was the way to go. www.b3ta.com/board/10563513

The thing with M$ & PCs though was how they stifled any competition on a machine (PC) that could allow loads of operating systems (rather than Apple stuff that was all in-house, i.e. OS & hardware).

(, Thu 6 Oct 2011, 21:17, archived)
# Well they came up with their own OS based on xerox's ideas
But it wasn't windows, or they would have called it windows.

And at the time microsoft were releasing their verson there weren't really many viable alternatives that didn't require a certian knowledge about computers to make it an out of the box product.

You could say thay at a later date linus torvaldes copied both microsoft and apple when he released the kernal for linux, which itself required a certian knowledge to get working in its various guises.

You could say that apple have copied some of the innovative research in the mobile phone market that nokia had forged over the years. The thing that apple has been good at is walling in the garden and creating slick user interfaces.
(, Thu 6 Oct 2011, 23:44, archived)
# "But it wasn't windows, or they would have called it windows"
I meant the very idea of a graphical user interface to move files around using a mouse etc, not what it was called.

"And at the time microsoft were releasing their verson there weren't really many viable alternatives" - true but there were some but M$ stifled the competition by forcing pc manufacturers to install windows. Anyway this is one page with more details (again): www.spectacle.org/0901/maloney.html, I'm off to bed :)
(, Fri 7 Oct 2011, 0:41, archived)