From: dic5340@hertz.njit.edu (David Charlap)
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.advocacy
Subject: Re: NT goes "late Beta" in 8 weeks! (was Re: Windows NT 'Alpha')
Date: 21 Aug 92 18:15:14 GMT
Organization: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N.J.

In article <1992Aug20.141431.11063@hellgate.utah.edu> brian%jaguar.cs.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Brian Sturgill) writes:
>1) Microsoft has bet the company on NT succeeding, it's clear that doesn't
>hold true for IBM as a whole.

Any company that puts all of its resources into one product is looking
for trouble.  If that one product doesn't succeed, it could mean
failure throughout.  That's what happened to Ashton Tate.

>3) IBM has dumped a ton of money into OS/2 1.X and 2.0, and they unfortuately
>insist on viewing that as a single expense.  They seem very reluctant
>to do the things necessary for success, like make MM a part of the OS/2
>base package.  Because OS/2 2.0 (later) comes with Windows 3.1 MM extensions
>and users have to pay $149 for OS/2 MM extentions... who in their right
>mind would develop for the OS/2 ones?  Likewise, IBM overcharges for
>development literature, their C compiler (even at $295 it's overpriced), etc.
>Talking to people internally at IBM it always came down in the end to
>the need for OS/2 (as a whole) to make money.

We'll have to see what NT's pricing is.  If it sells for $200, then
it's the same price as OS/2 + MM extensions!.   As for literature,
most computer books sell for $30-$50 each in stores, this would add up
to about $510-$850 for the 17-volume set.  Even if you consider half
of them to be valueless books, it still comes to $260-$425 for the
set.  IBM is charging $240 for them.  That's unreasonable???

And as for the C compiler.  Look at other C compilers?  Watcom C/386
sells for $700 (discount), TopSpeed sells for $500, Borland C (for
DOS) sells for $500.  IBM's list price of $300 is abig discount.

What do you want?  Free?  It'd be nice, but it ain't gonna happen

>4) Microsoft embarrased itself over abandoning OS/2 after numerous statements
>to the contrary.  They can't afford to do that again.  On the other hand
>from a bottom-line standpoint IBM might well be better off if OS/2
>doesn't succeed, because they can gracefully let things ride as is and still
>have kept their promise.  IBM has plenty of other systems to make money
>from.

That's a specious argument.  MS can't give up anything because nobody
trusts them, but IBM can afford to screw over customers.  Nope.  You
don't get a good reputation by using it in that way.  And if OS/2
didn't succeed, IBM wouldn't drop it - they'd end up supporting it at
a loss until the "service expiration" dates on the products.  

MS, on the other hand, enjoys dropping products.  They won't support
the MS-OS/2 packages they sold - they just tell you to "wait for NT".
They won't support Windows 3.0 - they tell you to upgrade to 3.1, etc.
It's not very nice to customers to be told to wait for the next
version of a product when you have a problem.

>5) Microsoft has not been stupid enough to announce firm dates for shipment
>and can thus not have (much) pride on the line, if things aren't ready in
>December -- and can give it the extra month or three that it needs.

Just like the didn't announce any firm dates for Windows 3.1.  It took
over two years for what was originally going to be a 6-month job.
Whatever they say (or claim to have said later on), people will be
expecting NT on some reasonable schedule.  I recall many messages here
claiming that NT would be released within a month of OS/2 2.0's
release.  Now all the Microsofties (and advocates) deny having written
the messages.

>6) In terms of a large project in recent history... Microsoft has a better
>track record than IBM.  IBM is mainly living on the laurels of past success.
>Consider Excel 4.0 -- know of any similar IBM successes in recent times?

Consider Word for DOS 5.5 - it's about the slowest program around.
They took a good package (Word 5.0) and saddled it with a slow
interface and didn't add any features.  When you report a problem,
they tell you to get Word For Windows.

-- 
   |)  David Charlap           "I don't even represent myself
  /|_  dic5340@hertz.njit.edu   sometimes so NJIT is right out!.
 ((|,)
  ~|~  Hi! I am a .signature virus, copy me into your .signature file.
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.advocacy