NationStates Jolt Archive

What do you think the world would be like if microsoft never existed? Extremetech (http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1869093,00.asp) has made an article on the subject that says the world would be many years behind were it is now. What does everyone else think?

We'd be stuck in RPM hell! :p

We owe Bill Gates a lot (metaphorically, in reality I wouldn‘t give him shit). Sometimes it takes a rare innovative person to move society ahead. Some may call his business practices “unethical” or even “illegal” but he and his company provide a product that is superior to its competitors and that has pushed the very idea of owning a pc forward by leaps and bounds

Either the world is dominated by macs or $100 linux PCs

Meh.

Somebody else would have filled the nitch.....

What do you think the world would be like if microsoft never existed? Extremetech (http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1869093,00.asp) has made an article on the subject that says the world would be many years behind were it is now. What does everyone else think?

There would have been another monopolist. Most likely candidate is IBM who would have picked CP/M instead of the inferior "quick and dirty operation system" MS had to offer.

Where it would have went from there.. no idea. Possibly IBM would have developed a system similar to OS/2 anyway, without MS input (and without subsequent MS betrayal) - and that would have been the main system for the consumer market.

For universities and businesses UNIX would probably have stayed the supreme ruler.

What do you think the world would be like if microsoft never existed? Extremetech (http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1869093,00.asp) has made an article on the subject that says the world would be many years behind were it is now. What does everyone else think?

We'd probably be as far behind if TCP/IP were open source, no wait a minute, nobody owns TCP/IP, do they? That's why there are a bazillion websites all over the world. What would have happened is everyone would have stopped squabbling over operating systems about 5 years after microsoft became popular, developed something like linux, and we'd be 10 years ahead of where we are now.

What do you think the world would be like if microsoft never existed? Extremetech (http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1869093,00.asp) has made an article on the subject that says the world would be many years behind were it is now. What does everyone else think?
You stoll that off of digg dident you
The same as my reply in there (slackerhobo)

Assumptions .... horrid assuptions
Like the fact that networking protocalls would not be standard (IEEE and other organizations standardized that NOT MS)
That and you assume that no company would take over a predominant position or establish a standard

All in all I call bullshit on this

Either the world is dominated by macs or $100 linux PCs
http://news.com.com/2300-1044_3-5884639-1.html

If Microsoft didn't exist, we'd have achieved utopia by now.

If Microsoft didn't exist, we'd have achieved utopia by now.

Most likely. I blame George Bush for the founding of Microsoft and then destroying our Utopian paradise. You know the initials are not hard to figure out. they just turned them around to fool us. Really its a conspiracy, trust me. ;)

Most likely. I blame George Bush for the founding of Microsoft and then destroying our Utopian paradise. You know the initials are not hard to figure out. they just turned them around to fool us. Really its a conspiracy, trust me. ;)
And he is obviously being assisted/controlled by Cheney and his army of cyborgs.

Meh.

Somebody else would have filled the nitch.....

I agree.

Most likely. I blame George Bush for the founding of Microsoft and then destroying our Utopian paradise. You know the initials are not hard to figure out. they just turned them around to fool us. Really its a conspiracy, trust me. ;)

Why the fuck is everything Bush's fault?

Because he eats babies.

In a dungeon.

Nowhere near that simple, Microsoft came into existance because of Anti-Trust law (really, IBM was prohibited from prodcing software and hardware and decided to emphasise the hardware end and market out software) and if Microsoft did not become the dominant operating system some other company (probably the company which produced DS-DOS) would have replaced Microsoft. IBM wanted one major source for an OS for PCs, and Microsoft became it and has produced the dominant OSs for PCs since then.

If microsoft had never existed, we'd all be discussing what would have happened if Acorn never existed. Acorn computers were better, and the bastards ran then out of business and then continued with their crappy computers.
:confused: :sniper:

If microsoft had never existed, we'd all be discussing what would have happened if Acorn never existed. Acorn computers were better, and the bastards ran then out of business and then continued with their crappy computers.
:confused: :sniper:No points, Microsoft not responsible for demise of Acorn, Sun (and Wang and DEC) were. Acorns were workstations and business computers, not PCs (back in the days when there was a significant difference). Even with it's dominance of the PC market for home users, Microsoft does not dominate the business OS market (although it is trying to). Nor does Microsoft make computers aside from the X-Box, they make OSs and affiliated software - complain about their OSs or their software, but the X-Box hasn't driven any computer manufacturer out of the market.

Nowhere near that simple, Microsoft came into existance because of Anti-Trust law (really, IBM was prohibited from prodcing software and hardware and decided to emphasise the hardware end and market out software)...

Huh? Microsoft started out producing software for machines based on the intel chip which had little to do with IBM.

What do you think the world would be like if microsoft never existed?

Depressingly similar. It would still have needed the existence of the internet for open source software to take off and people to start writing decent software. Whether any other company would have been as good as Microsoft at spreading lies about its rivals I dont know, though.

I think things would be largely the same. If Microsoft had never been, there'd only be something else instead (maybe Steve Jobs would be in Billy's place right now.)

I think MS did a lot for the computer industry and all that, but to quote from an article in a magazine I read recently: "Like an SUV when petrol was cheap, Windows was convenient, but now the ongoing cost is too much to bear."

The way I see it, MS should need to "shape up, or ship out." But, unfortunately, its effective monopoly largely shields it from market forces and its money largely shields them from the law.

I think things would be largely the same. If Microsoft had never been, there'd only be something else instead (maybe Steve Jobs would be in Billy's place right now.)

I think MS did a lot for the computer industry and all that, but to quote from an article in a magazine I read recently: "Like an SUV when petrol was cheap, Windows was convenient, but now the ongoing cost is too much to bear."

The way I see it, MS should need to "shape up, or ship out." But, unfortunately, its effective monopoly largely shields it from market forces and its money largely shields them from the law.
The problem is gas is cheaper (at least if you are looking at it from a performance perspective)

Because processing power is so cheep nowadays they are allowed to get away with inefficient implementations without being called on it. We got to make sure they are going about it as efficiently as possible

The problem is gas is cheaper (at least if you are looking at it from a performance perspective)

Because processing power is so cheep nowadays they are allowed to get away with inefficient implementations without being called on it. We got to make sure they are going about it as efficiently as possible

True enough. Of course, making sure they keep efficient is rather difficult when they obscure everything about their software except for the Mighty Executable.

True enough. Of course, making sure they keep efficient is rather difficult when they obscure everything about their software except for the Mighty Executable.
Yeah Closed source software sucks

It wouldn't be that much different if we didn't have MS.

We'd still have hurricanes, volcanoes, earthquakes, disease, arseholes, Global warming et cetera.

This picture

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b383/DrkHelmet/worlddom.jpg

would never have existed, and the world would be sad.

Yeah Closed source software sucks

Yes. Yes it does. FLOSS would be the way of future if the big proprietary giants just weren't so damn big and powerful. MS has billions to spend on marketing and FUD, while FLOSS developers usually have to rely on the <gasp!> merits of their work.

Still, I have hope.

Edit: Galloism: Yeah, that picture rocks. Here (http://www.zpub.com/un/bill/nazi.jpg) is another good one.

We owe Bill Gates a lot (metaphorically, in reality I wouldn‘t give him shit). Sometimes it takes a rare innovative person to move society ahead. Some may call his business practices “unethical” or even “illegal” but he and his company provide a product that is superior to its competitors and that has pushed the very idea of owning a pc forward by leaps and bounds
damn striaght. the sucess of MS has created a minimum world benchmark for all software that rivals must at least equal to sell their wares - for that alone MS is worthy of thanks. related to that is the world standards in files that MS's dominance brings: people all round the world can share work documents (if nothing else) as easy as pie thanks to this.

what would the world be like if it wasn't for MS? technologically more fragmented, for sure. either that, or steve jobbs would be just as irrationally hated as uncle Bill is...

steve jobbs would be just as irrationally hated as uncle Bill is...

You're Bill Gates' nephew!

Holy shit, you're the only man I know of who actually has a rich uncle.

:D

What do you think the world would be like if microsoft never existed? Extremetech (http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1869093,00.asp) has made an article on the subject that says the world would be many years behind were it is now. What does everyone else think?

Well, ya know, I actually lived before Bill Gates was even born. We got along just fine without computers (well, we did have some big ones that took up entire rooms, mostly used for national defense). Actually, if I could go back in time to about 1965 and freeze technology at that level, I'd do so in an instant.

Yes. Yes it does. FLOSS would be the way of future if the big proprietary giants just weren't so damn big and powerful. MS has billions to spend on marketing and FUD, while FLOSS developers usually have to rely on the <gasp!> merits of their work.

Still, I have hope.

Edit: Galloism: Yeah, that picture rocks. Here (http://www.zpub.com/un/bill/nazi.jpg) is another good one.
http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

Reminded me of this ... it is an awsome article

Edit: Galloism: Yeah, that picture rocks. Here (http://www.zpub.com/un/bill/nazi.jpg) is another good one.

Hah! You break Godwins' Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwins_Law), hence you lose!

You're Bill Gates' nephew!

Holy shit, you're the only man I know of who actually has a rich uncle.

:D
:p i so wish:p

Most likely. I blame George Bush for the founding of Microsoft and then destroying our Utopian paradise. You know the initials are not hard to figure out. they just turned them around to fool us. Really its a conspiracy, trust me. ;)
Finally! Someone else who gets it. Everything is W's fault. You ever notice how a "W" is just an upside-down "M"? "M" as in "Microsoft"...

Microsoft are responsible in great part for the success of home computers, and PCs in general, maybe everyone would be using macs?

Hah! You break Godwins' Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwins_Law), hence you lose!

You can't break Godwin's Law, silly, you can only add to the plethora of evidence indicating it's truth. In this case, I am proud to do my bit to help prove Godwin correct.

Huh? Microsoft started out producing software for machines based on the intel chip which had little to do with IBM.
No, Microsoft started producing the OS for the IBM PC, Intel became the dominant producer of CPUs for PCs and later PC Clones, it designed the 8080 chip for/with IBM for the IBM PC and manufactured chips for both IBM and the clones. IBM wanted to priduce a mass-market home computer (IBM PC was a brand name, and it's pervasiveness in being used for all PCs now goes to show what happens when companies don't sue people for opening MacDonald's Family Restaurants), as opposed to the enthusiast (geek) market home computers and the business oriented mainframes, the problem was IBM had to unbundle software and hardware for computers due to the 1969 anti-trust suit, so for it's PCs it used a non-propriatory OS and Microsoft created DS-DOS to run the IBM PCs (actually they just bought QDOS rights from another company and liscensed it to IBM) where it was known as PC-DOS. When Intel started to sell chips to companies other than IBM, it started the whole PC clone craze and the clones drove IBM out of the home computer business. The relationship between Intel and Microsoft dates from IBM which brought them together to produce the IBM PC.

Not that Microsoft didn't write MS-BASIC for Intel chips, but before being brought together with Intel by IBM for the OS Microsoft was only writing aftermarket software. If Microsoft had not produced the OS for IBM PCs it would be just another company selling software instead of the OS bohemoth it is.

The Eu would be around $500 million poorer.

We must make sure we keep fining microsoft. then maybe, we will have to pay less to the EU.

We wouldn't have Age of Empires.

No, Microsoft started producing the OS for the IBM PC, Intel became the dominant producer of CPUs for PCs and later PC Clones, it designed the 8080 chip for/with IBM for the IBM PC and manufactured chips for both IBM and the clones.

The IBM PC - a computer which was launched six years or so after the first releases from Microsoft...

If Microsoft had not produced the OS for IBM PCs it would be just another company selling software instead of the OS bohemoth it is.

Quite possibly true - it was their big break, but the difference between Microsoft being 'just another company' and your earlier statement -

Nowhere near that simple, Microsoft came into existance because of Anti-Trust law (really, IBM was prohibited from prodcing software and hardware and decided to emphasise the hardware end and market out software)...

- is vast. Microsoft existed long prior to the creation of the IBM PC, and so to claim that it came into existence as a result of it is flawed. If the IBM PC was the genesis of Microsoft, then why did it initially begin producing software for the Altair 8800?

the problem was IBM had to unbundle software and hardware for computers due to the 1969 anti-trust suit, so for it's PCs it used a non-propriatory OS and Microsoft created DS-DOS to run the IBM PCs (actually they just bought QDOS rights from another company and liscensed it to IBM) where it was known as PC-DOS.

So are you claiming that Microsoft came into existence as a result of an operating system which wouldn't be created/bought by them until the company already had five years of products behind them?

we'd still be where we are today. but the tech giants would probably be IBM and Atari. :D

Microsoft may not be the most advanced, but they did two things: They make advances quick & they target the common man. For the same reason the Volkswagon -a clearly inferior car- was so popular.

Microsoft may not be the most advanced, but they did two things: They make advances quick & they target the common man. For the same reason the Volkswagon -a clearly inferior car- was so popular.


Is this another Gates/Hitler allusion?

Let's see all the advances that MS has given the world of personal computing:
- The Graphical User Interface... er, no. That was Apple.
- Preemptive multitasking... er, no. That was the Amiga.
- Virtual memory... er, no. GEOS on the Commodore 64 had that.
- Applications that install all over your hard disk making them very difficult to uninstall... yup, that was MS.

Microsoft may not be the most advanced, but they did two things: They make advances quick & they target the common man. For the same reason the Volkswagon -a clearly inferior car- was so popular.
Quick? It took them years to come up with a decent GUI. Multitasking only took them 10 years after the Amiga showed it was possible in a personal computer. Same with 'multimedia'. Amigans were doing 'multimedia' years before the term was coined.

We'd be telling jokes about Steve Jobs instead. Well, more jokes about Steve Jobs, anyway.

What do you think the world would be like if microsoft never existed? Extremetech (http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1869093,00.asp) has made an article on the subject that says the world would be many years behind were it is now. What does everyone else think?


The reverse. Microsloth has done more than any other company to hold back the development of computers. Their bug-ridden over-priced bloatware has stiffled competition and Microsoft's unfair business tactics have destroyed what was once a diverse and inovative market.

I think Microsoft initially greatly improved the spread of personal computing, but for most of the last ten years, have held back the industry. After Windows 95, the innovation stopped. It's a clear example of a company locked in complacency and stagnation having achived a monopoly.

I think Microsoft initially greatly improved the spread of personal computing, but for most of the last ten years, have held back the industry. After Windows 95, the innovation stopped. It's a clear example of a company locked in complacency and stagnation having achived a monopoly.
"The innovation stopped?" What the hell are you talking about? Computers are obsolete almost by the time you buy them, on virtue of these innovations. If "innovation stopped" we wouldn't be seeing things like faster processors, laser mice, and plasma monitors. The innovation has most certainly not stopped; its seemingly shifted its focus away from software and more towards hardware.

Also, I hate to burst your bubble but Microsoft most definately does not have a monopoly. They're certainly not the only manufacturers of computers, computer hardware, software or operating systems.

Microsoft has most certainly not held back the industry; if they had we wouldn't have people like Apple running around thinking up all this crazy new stuff to compete with them. Strong competition fosters innovation, because you won't be able to survive in this kind of market without it--and no one has.

Also, Windows XP is a great operating system; I don't care what anyone says. It's nowhere near as good as Linux, but you can't win them all.

Steve Balmer would be working at the post office.

Envelopers! Envelopers! Envelopers! Envelopers! Envelopers! Envelopers! Envelopers!

If Microsoft never existed...whoa...thats a thought...espcially the $$$ that Gates has donated to charity, the video gaming industry, and the obvious one, software programs, you probably wouldn't even have a PC actually, and if you did it would probably be just a black screen with green text.

What do you think the world would be like if microsoft never existed? Extremetech (http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1869093,00.asp) has made an article on the subject that says the world would be many years behind were it is now. What does everyone else think?


So much debate for a simple question. Apple would have dominated the home market and the other usual suspects wouldve dominated the business market. Without Microsoft we'd all be using Macs.

Contrary to popular belief, Microsoft did not invent the gui, they just managed to market theirs much more effectively than anyone else.