From: gess@knex.Gwinnett.COM (Gess Shankar)
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.advocacy
Subject: Re: IBM, Microsoft, and OS/2 -- a history.
Date: 10 Oct 92 23:51:22 GMT
Organization: Knowledge Exchange, GA, US of A

philipla@microsoft.com (Phil Lafornara) writes:

>       Ahem.  Can you explain why Microsoft wasn't "listenting to
> what the customers want" when it decided to focus its efforts on
> Windows?  OS/2 was not selling - Windows 3.0 was selling in droves.
> Which did the customers want?
> 
Maybe because they were not listening to customers, when sales of Windows
2.x were lackluster. If OS/2 was not selling, Windows was not selling either.
Customers had nothing to do with it then. What customers were wanting much
was relief from 640k straightjacket and the ramcram with so many work
arounds like Expanded, Extended, TSRs, Swappers and the like. They wanted
a DOS that could have taken advantage of the 286, as it was. And the 386 when
it came about. Yes, customers were asking for it, because Dos Extenders
came into being. If Microsoft was listening to customers, they sure did not
give that impression to anyone. They didn't care, because what were
the customers going to do? There was simply no competition.

Win 3.0 had great promotion, was sexy, hyped up by the press, caught the
customers' imagination, the time was right, 286's were a dying breed,...
When this happened, MS probably realized the golden opportunity they had
to break the IBM shackles and took the plunge.

This was probably a brilliant business decision. Kudos to Microsoft's
strategic management skills, but don't tell me that it was because MS was
'listening to what the customers want'.

DOS customers by the millions have long been a neglected lot, getting
some attention only when DR got their act together and started offering
some sort of competition. Their swelling numbers happened because of
IBM (not by design perhaps ;-)) and Mr Eskridge's vision. Much derided
by Macintoshers and Amiga-heads, but envied by the same because of the
numbers and market presence, thanks to the cheap iron and the corporate
embrace.

'Listening to what customers want' indeed. I can hear the hordes clamoring
for 'NT NOW!!'. Sub $100 kits, compiler bundles etc. are happening at
Microsoft because of competition and the need to attract and keep developers.
Given the penchant for MS pricing ($500 Windows SDK, Another $500 for DDK),
$2600 for 32bit OS/2 DDK (this hurts), NT Kit should have been priced
at $5000+ and probably would have been, had circumstances been different.

A lot of productive applications in character mode are out there, which can
benefit from a Protect Mode DOS, linear memory space and DesqView capabilities.
Without requiring souped up video hardware, rodents and bloated software
occupying gigabytes of storage. What a lot of customers wanted, probably
still want (if not in this country, in many other countries less endowed
with the affluence)....

Sorry for the soap box, but this thing touched a nerve. I have been a long-
suffering Microsoft customer and can still remember the arrogance and
lack of concern of not too long ago.

GeSS
--
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