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To: aruanan
And that's why it's been so good.

That's fine, but without the original IBM computer designed with off-the-shelf components and its operating system DOS/Windows, computers would still be extremely expensive and far less prevalent.

Without Windows, the cheap hardware to run Linux and other open source OSs would never have happened.

98 posted on 02/02/2007 12:57:48 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (Islam is a religion of peace, and Muslims reserve the right to kill anyone who says otherwise.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Thanks for adding a common sense perspective to this endless arguemnt.

The perspective you've given is usually ignored.


248 posted on 02/04/2007 8:51:51 PM PST by Balding_Eagle (If America falls, darkness will cover the face of the earth for a thousand years.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
Without Windows, the cheap hardware to run Linux and other open source OSs would never have happened.

Before DOS. there was already two OSes -- CP/M and Unix -- that ran on hardware from multiple vendors. The Internet was already coming into shape, and in fact Windows was quite late to the party. Apple was already working on the Lisa, which would become the Macintosh.

The IBM PC brought two things to the table -- the IBM name, which brought credibility with corporate customers, and Lotus 1-2-3, which gave the computer a "killer app" for business.

It's all "what if" guesswork, of course, but I think if DOS hadn't been there, I think a GUI would have been developed for CP/M, Apple would still have built the Macintosh, Commodore would still have developed the Amiga, and IBM would have eventually found the market irresistible. It might not have happened as fast and certainly would look very different, but I think we'd still have internet-connected computers on our desks.

249 posted on 02/04/2007 9:14:31 PM PST by ReignOfError
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