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0 pointsrswail6y ago0 comments

Back in the 80s, IBM was evil, Apple and Microsoft were good. I have an "I HATE IBM" badge from a very early computer show.

MS was mainly known for its languages and its apps, more than the OS. IBM PCs still came with CP/M or PCDOS (MSDOS).

Then when Windows 3 came out, MS started to act like IBM but on steroids, thinking they owned the "stack" (as it was). OS/2 was the last attempt to extract the "PC compatible" world from the Windows domination.

Then IE6 and ActiveX ensconced MS in the enterprise. What used to be "you won't get fired for buying IBM" became "you won't get fired for buying MS because there's no choice".

The onset of the web and competitors in MS's dominant space (well except for apps, Office still rules the world) and the demise of the Ballmer years (especially the death of their mobile/phone ecology) means that MS is now actually doing what IBM did about 15 years ago when they adopted Linux.

To quote Vonnegut, "So it goes".

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NeedMoreTea6y ago

Microsoft started acting like IBM from the moment the DOS licensing was agreed with IBM. Incredibly naive on IBM's part, or perhaps they simply expected to sell so few machines it wouldn't matter. After all the first PC was deliberately crippled to stay away from more expensive IBM kit.

MS were acting like mini IBM throughout the 80s, and before the mid 80s had very much gained a negative reputation globally. It was against Microsoft, not IBM, that was the usual target of complaint when the first AT clones were coming out - 84? 85? I think Windows 1 was about the same time. Certainly enough of a reputation to be amazed they were still collaborating with IBM to produce the first OS/2, again around the mid 80s.

bluGill6y ago

A large part of that in the late 1970's IBM was under anti-trust investigation. They had to make some changes in behavior to prevent bad results. Much of the PC would have been different/closed if IBM wasn't afraid of what lawyers would do.

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