From: Ian_Upright@mindlink.bc.ca (Ian Upright)
Subject: NT Destined to Succeed??
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Date: Sun, 3 Jan 1993 20:04:37 GMT


Why do I now think that OS/2 will definitely dominate the desktops in the
future, and why NT won't be the *most* popular platform on PC's in general?

At times I didn't, and with all of NT's supposed capability, and Microsoft's
marketing, I thought it could actually be a success.. NOT!

Here's why:

Why do so called UNIX OS's (in our terms) fail?  Because lack of a user
base..  And because the user base is so low, the prices must be higher.
Windows NT will not be affordable by most people.. (especially due to
hardware requirements as well, but the software price is a big difference
too..  Businesses today aren't willing to invest big bucks into software
anymore.  They now know things are changing, and getting better.. Why
spend a grand on software, when in 3 years something better and cheaper
comes out... We see the market taking aim to $99 software packages now..
Software *is* getting cheaper.. )

Windows NT will not be compatable, and will even have worse compatabilities
than OS/2, thus driving the NT user base down even more..

There is a lot of anti-Microsoft love/hate relationships going around with
Microsoft.  People are starting to see Microsoft as a company that looks
out only for itself, and not for it's users..  There is a LOT of
anti-windows feelings out there..   Many people hate windows, but only use
it because there really wasn't a better alternative..  Now there is..
Thus driving the Windows and the NT user base down even more..

There is a lot of OS/2 advocacy out there..  If someone turned all those
OS/2 advocacy quotes into bumper stickers, I'm sure they'd sell pretty
fast..  Thus driving the NT user base down even more..

Software developers in general, allready have more acceptance for OS/2 now
than they do NT..  It may have been different in the past, but I think if
you were to do a survey now, I'm sure that statement would be correct..
A lot of good tools are coming out, or are out for OS/2 ( Digitalk,
one of the leaders of Object Oriented programming has beefed up it's
Smalltalk V product, and it is apparently fairly fast & efficient, as well
as adding on other OS/2 specific development aids that aren't even available
for any other platform!..)  The editor of Compuer Language even promotes
OS/2, and thinks it's the way of the future..  Recently, in a review of
cross-platform development tools, many of the examples provided were
snapshots of OS/2 screens of course..  Thats the OS that all the developers
are seeking to develop for..  Thus driving the *software* base of NT down
even more, thus driving the NT user base down even more..

OS/2 has a 4 million user base, and there aren't really many native apps
yet!   4 million people are looking into the future, sitting waiting for
the native apps!  Once native apps hit the market, and driver support gets
better, watch that number double or tripple very fast..  Windows user base
isn't really going down, it's changing to OS/2..  Especially seeing as
the hardware requirements are close to the same..  Except for hard drive
space... Oh, and haven't you heard?  40 meg hard drives are selling like
hot-cakes!  ;-)   People are just itching to put Dos, Win 3.1, and
one Microsoft app on thier hard drive..

The hard and the truth of it is:  With all these people *NOT* using NT,
the software prices are going to be very high... Thus driving the user
base even lower, thus driving the prices higher..  You get the picture?

*PEOPLE AREN'T GOING TO BE USING NT FOR A DESKTOP PLATFORM IN THE FUTURE*

Server platform maybe..  Shitty ugly looking high-end workstation *MAYBE*..
Where's it headed?  Where is it's TARGET MARKET?  I don't even think
Microsoft knows..  Personally, I think NeXTstep's got a better chance..

Where's OS/2 headed???  On all our desktops..  :)  Thank goodness.. relief
from Microsoft at last..  Just think!!!   Imagine a popular OS without
any Microsoft APPS!!!  Doesn't that sound nice??  I wonder if Microsoft
will be bankrupt by the end of the 90's?  I wonder if Microsoft has started
developing OS/2 apps like the said they would..  Hopefully not..  :)


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