s142029@fred.ucdavis.edu (05/11/91)
I would like to have a say about the recent discussions about the future
of Windows vs. the future of OS/2.
Windows, although it is a nice product, seemed to be pushed into the
market sooner than it's supposed to be. And here comes politics :
I think MS pushed windows out too early because it sees that the future with
IBM doesn't seem too bright if OS/2 is only its half-product (You know what
I mean). So, it took some ideas off from OS/2 (I'm talking about version
2.0) and create Windows 3.0. It knows it has to get Windows out before
OS/2 in order to survive. And it did succeed, unfortunately. In the mean time
IBM is almost ready with OS/2 2.0, but Windows came out and got popular. So
IBM has to stop and change OS/2 2.0 so that it will be compatible with the
OS/2 2.0 Clone (aka Windows 3.0). This is a very unfortunate incident for
the computer industry. I mean, here we are, almost have OS/2 2.0, but Windows
took the stage, and we are stuck with a cheap imitation product. Check out
an article by Charles Petzold in (I believe January) issue of PC MAG 1991.
He said "...Windows may look striking at first... But if you take a closer
look, you'll see a Ferrari made of fiberglass body and a Volkswagon engine..."
And this is from the guy who wrote the books Programming Windows and
Programming the OS/2 Presentation Manager. He knows both product very well,
and that was his opinion about how Windows hold up against OS/2.
Windows simply doesn't hold up against OS/2.
I also read an irrelevant comparions about the cost of OS/2 vs. the
the cost of Windows. If anyone want to compare, they have to compare
Windows Standard Mode to OS/2 1.x only. And OS/2 certainly wins in this case
because Windows couldn't truely multitask in this mode. And if anyone wants to
compare OS/2 2.0 to Windows, he should compare to Windows 386 enhance mode.
Don't say you can run Windows on an XT because if you're still using an XT,
you're better off with DOS alone. Don't even think about multitasking or
anything.
Finally, I suggest we boycott Windows, make Microsoft rethink its mistake
so that we won't have this problem again. However, we all have also benefit
from this because without the Windows mess, IBM might not have lower the price
of OS/2 and try to make it the best possible.
*** Silly MS, Windows is for kids ***
Tung Huynh