ed@alt.dah.sub.org (Ed Braaten) (11/27/90)
davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (Wm E. Davidsen Jr) writes: > Wendin had unix and VMS clones out some years ago, which would run >three users on an XT, with some happiness. They were subsets, too, but >useful if your problem fit their solution. What happened to the Wendin brothers? The last I heard they got bought out by Microsoft. Out of frustration they had written their own version of DOS which was supposedly compatible to the Microsoft product, but had the Wendin multitasking extensions built in. Did Microsoft ever use any of their technology? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ed Braaten | "... Man looks at the outward appearance, Work: ed@imuse.de.intel.com | but the Lord looks at the heart." Home: ed@alt.dah.sub.org | 1 Samuel 16:7b ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
gregj@microsoft.UUCP (Greg JONES) (12/11/90)
In article <4016@alt.dah.sub.org>, ed@alt.dah.sub.org (Ed Braaten) writes: > What happened to the Wendin brothers? The last I heard they got > bought out by Microsoft. Out of frustration they had written their own > version of DOS which was supposedly compatible to the Microsoft product, > but had the Wendin multitasking extensions built in. Did Microsoft > ever use any of their technology? oh no, we're famous... no media please... :-) Well, the answers to the rumors above are "not as such", "not as such", and "probably not". Microsoft did not buy Wendin, we left Wendin (due to reasons which shall remain mysterious) and moved to the Seattle area. A few months later we applied at MS. Wendin itself is still alive. We didn't write Wendin-DOS "out of frustration" but because we thought it would be a marketable product. Wendin-DOS is dimly compatible with MS-DOS. Basically, multitasking DOS apps in real mode (and emulating all DOS behavior) turned out to be incredibly difficult, so a few "ill- behaved" apps couldn't be supported (you wouldn't believe the kind of stuff apps like Sidekick do). It does multitask, but an app has to be very well-behaved to run in the windowing system or on a terminal. Wendin may have made some improvements in this area since we left; I don't know. Microsoft probably barely noticed Wendin-DOS (it couldn't be a really serious competitor, mostly due to the compatibility reasons). As for using Wendin technology, we didn't give any away when we came here, since it doesn't technically belong to us. The original Wendin operating system products came with source code, but the DOS did not, so even if Microsoft bought a copy they wouldn't really get any sort of technology. Also consider that our design base was basically similar to VMS, which is probably not at all like OS/2 or Windows. And no, this is NOT an invitation to the world to come rap about Wendin by email. I have enough to do as it is... uunet!microsoft!gregj Greg Jones, MS network development [I just happen to work here. Sheer coincidence.] [And, of course, standard disclaimers apply.]