Date: Tue, 07 Aug 2001 00:11:57 -0700 From: Terry Lambert <tlambert2@mindspring.com> To: j mckitrick <jcm@FreeBSD-uk.eu.org> Cc: Brad Knowles <brad.knowles@skynet.be>, Paul Robinson <paul@akita.co.uk>, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: How did the MSFT monopoly start? Message-ID: <3B6F94BD.AC1B2672@mindspring.com> References: <20010806142544.A64348@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org> <20010806150653.C96762@jake.akitanet.co.uk> <p05100301b7945c3c8414@[194.78.241.123]> <20010806155550.C64348@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org>
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j mckitrick wrote: > > | I believe that the original questioner would be interested in > | knowing when that change happened, and under what circumstances. I'd > | be kind of interested in that answer, too. > > Exactly. :-) PC-DOS was the OEM version for the IBM PC. MS-DOS was the version for public consumption; before that, it was strictly OEM versions, since the code had to match the BIOS entry points. The change started when Compaq did a clean-room reverse engineer of the IBM PC BIOS, but that was just a trickle... the thing that really set the industry down the "generic DOS distribution" path was when Phoenix, Inc. did another clean-room reverse engineer -- but unlike Compaq, licensed their BIOS to any clone vendor who wanted to claim "100% IBM Compatible". This was the "holy grail", which only IBM had, until Compaq announced "the first ever 100% IBM Compatible clone". There were several "also ran" DOS versions from third party vendors, but they never achieved the success of MS-DOS, largely because Microsoft Windows became tied to Microsoft's DOS version (Digital Research's DR-DOS fell from grace when Windows 95 went to beta, and refused to run on DR-DOS; this code was later removed, but the damage was done; the final nail in the coffin was the integration of DOS into Windows, so that when Windows 95 went final, it came bundled with an integrated MS-DOS: the final release mostly booted DOS, and then started Windows, with the major difference being the boot blocks were updated to say "Starting Windows 95..."). In any case, you should probably watch volume 1 and 2 of Robert X. Cringely's "Triumph of the Nerds" PBS series (the third one is basically a Microsoft commercial, and serves best as a means of keeping the other two videos securely wedged into the three-volume box). You might also want to read his book on the subject (I also don't recommend the 2.0 version of the same title). -- Terry To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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