bstempleton@watmath.UUCP (Brad Templeton) (10/24/83)
Recent rumours suggest that Microsoft made use of Intel reserved vectors in PC-DOS and the new 80188 makes use of these vectors. Thus old software using these vectors will bomb out. Some suggest this is the reason for the delay in the IBM PC Junior (Peanut) which is probably based on the 80188. If this is true, it could be very bad news for Microsoft. If IBM is able to sue for losses due to the delay in production of the peanut (The net posted rumour suggested a new 80188 is being masked on request by IBM) then the value of these losses could easily be beyond what Microsoft could handle. But IBM doesn't want to bankrupt Microsoft, since they depend on them for software support for the PC family. So they might just take posession of Microsoft. On the other hand, if they did this, some of the staff might leave, as many of them have no desire to work for IBM directly. So it is a bit of a bind. On the other hand, the documentation that is a necessary link in the whole mess is published and supposedly checked by IBM. So they should have spotted the error and are at least partially liable. If these rumours are true, things could get interesting. -- Brad Templeton - Waterloo, Ont. (519) 886-7304