From: mbk@gibbs.ucsd.edu (Matt Kennel)
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy
Subject: Re: FCC will proclaim Microsoft is run by Communists! :)
Date: 31 Dec 92 20:27:34 GMT
Organization: Institute For Nonlinear Science, UCSD
NNTP-Posting-Host: gibbs.ucsd.edu
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bai@msiadmin.cit.cornell.edu (Dov Bai-MSI Visitor) writes:
: From a programmer's point of view there is no real separation between 
: applications & system software. Almost every application involve
: some interaction with the system or system calls. This separation 
: exists only in the mind of the FTC.

Imagine flying this past the marketing director: "What's the big deal
about needing kernel patches for the application?  From a programmer's
point of view there is no real separation between applications and
system software?"

There is only ONE operating system, created by ONE company, which can
conceivably run MANY different applications.  (But that may be changing.)

It's to Microsoft's advantage to put more and more "applications" features
in their operating systems, thereby precluding others from future competition
in those areas.  (Unix vendors didn't do that since they have this
"comittement" to the codex of Unix code from either Berkeley or AT&T)

Consider all the "multimedia extensions" and 'database features'.

Microsoft Application developers can ASK for inside information about
OS calls that others have to figure out from reverse engineering, which
of course, may change in future versions.

They can see the source code and look how the OS calls really work, in
contrast to believing the documentation.  I can't believe anybody with
any real experience would consider this a minor triviality, especially
considering the increasing complexity of new operating systems.  (Apple
could conceivably have done the same thing, but they spun their applications
group off)

But that's not the real danger.  MS Applications can find about plans and
request specific features that they need in the future that will best aid
their business plans.  Everybody else has to wait and see what MS decides to
dole out.

Don't you see from a business point of view this makes an ENORMOUS difference?
Especially when being "big and first" often establishes the "accepted standard"
around which everyone else must conform for the sake of compatbilitity?

: Now, when entrepreneurs start
: the game, they usually have some long-term goals. They dont know 
: ahead of time that some government committee is going to enter into
: the picture later on and arbitrarily change the rules. If that
: occurs too much in new areas they will simply not start to play 
: the game.

Replace government committee with MS and that's a good example of what's
starting to happen with application developers.  They know that there is
NO place for the large profit-making mainstream applications outside
Microsoft.

Consider the PenPoint computer.  Clearly enormously superior to anything
mainstream (objectoriented OS, etc.) but it will be killed by
Pen Windows.  (does it exist even?)

: 
: >Jeff Sicherman
: >up the net without a .sig
: 
: Dov

--
-Matt Kennel  		mbk@inls1.ucsd.edu
-Institute for Nonlinear Science, University of California, San Diego
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