Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 15:06:53 +0100 From: Paul Robinson <paul@akita.co.uk> To: j mckitrick <jcm@FreeBSD-uk.eu.org> Cc: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: How did the MSFT monopoly start? Message-ID: <20010806150653.C96762@jake.akitanet.co.uk> In-Reply-To: <20010806142544.A64348@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org>; from jcm@FreeBSD-uk.eu.org on Mon, Aug 06, 2001 at 02:25:44PM %2B0100 References: <20010806142544.A64348@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org>
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On Aug 6, j mckitrick <jcm@FreeBSD-uk.eu.org> wrote:
> We hear all of the stories of how OEMs had to install Windows if they sold
> MS-DOS, but how did MSFT get the clout to require this in the first place?
> How did they go from being just-another-DOS to having the power to tell OEMs
> what they could and could not do, and price-gouging them if they did not
> comply?
They licensed DOS to IBM who produced the original PC. It was a default with
the first IBM's, which at first were un-cloneable until the BIOS got reverse
engineered. All a bit before my time, but I suspect by that time DOS had
become a standard, especially as plenty of business software would have been
available for it by that time, whereas CP/M and GeOS would have been rather
lacking.
Once you own the industry standard, it's not that hard to bring OEMs into
line with restrictive licenses regarding competing OSes, and before you know
it, you have effectively a monopoly. :-)
--
Paul Robinson ,---------------------------------------
Technical Director @ Akita | A computer lets you make more mistakes
PO Box 604, Manchester, M60 3PR | than any other invention with the
T: +44 (0) 161 228 6388 (F:6389)| possible exceptions of handguns and
| Tequila - Mitch Ratcliffe
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