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Without Microsoft, which Operating System ...

Discussion in 'Techno-Magic' started by Montresor, Sep 20, 2008.

?

Without Microsoft, which operating system would have won the market?

  1. Apple's MAC OS

    7 vote(s)
    31.8%

  2. IBM's OS/2

    5 vote(s)
    22.7%

  3. Linux or another Unix clone

    7 vote(s)
    31.8%

  4. Another graphical OS

    2 vote(s)
    9.1%

  5. A non-graphical OS

    1 vote(s)
    4.5%
  1. Montresor

    Montresor Mostly Harmless Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder

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    Remove all ads!
    Let's say that Bill Gates and/or Paul Allen hadn't been born, or (oh horror!) that they had decided to start a pizzeria instead of a software company.

    The big question is of course if they would have cornered the market on pizzas and forced everyone to eat some horrible standard product with anchovies and broccoli, and no cheese :shake: but I will concentrate on a more obvious, and almost as important, question:

    Which operating system would we (well, most of us anyway) have been using if Microsoft had never existed?

    1) My own best guess is Mac OS. Apple has been making graphical operating systems since the early to mid 80's and still do. The problem is that their systems aren't compatible with the IBM PC.

    2) Which leads us to IBM. Their graphical operating system, OS/2 Warp, was launched a year or so before Windows 95. Problem: IBM failed to understand what they had and to advertise it because "Big Blue" was (and still is) more geared towards the mainframes market.

    3) Linux or another Unix clone. Being developed and made available for free, it would be the obvious choice for most people - except that without central coordination the different versions aren't compatible. And where do you go for support when the developers are sitting in 2,000 different living rooms?

    4) Some other graphical operating system. Without Microsoft, another company would have popped up and developed an operating system instead.

    5) A non-graphical operating system. Without Microsoft we would have been using CP/M, DOS or something like that. Hardly likely, seeing that both Apple and IBM developed graphical operating systems independently of MS.
     
    Montresor, Sep 20, 2008
    #1
  2. Taza

    Taza Weird Modmaker Veteran

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    My bet would go to *BSD.

    With BeOS getting a honorable mention.

    Amusingly enough, we might have never seen Linux without MS-DOS, and Mac OS just wasn't that good before Mac OS X, which brought it very close to BSD.

    AmigaOS was great, but ran only on Amigas.
     
    Taza, Sep 20, 2008
    #2
  3. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    OS/2 was quite similar to Windows, and in many respects better. If Windows was out of the picture and there was no other significant competitor, OS/2 would have won.
     
    Taluntain, Sep 20, 2008
    #3

  4. Erod Gems: 14/31
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    Since this is a "what if" poll, my vote goes to AmigaOS.
     
    Erod, Sep 20, 2008
    #4
  5. Disciple of The Watch

    Disciple of The Watch Preparing The Coming of The New Order Veteran

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    Chalk another vote for *BSD.
     
    Disciple of The Watch, Sep 21, 2008
    #5
  6. Nakia

    Nakia The night is mine Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    I wasn't lucky enough to use Amigos but from all I've heard about it I think it should win. Once they saw the potential market they might have expanded.

    Os/2 was good and might have been a runner-up

    BSD is another I'm not familiar with and know very little about.
     
    Nakia, Sep 21, 2008
    #6
  7. Taza

    Taza Weird Modmaker Veteran

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    BSD -> Mach
    BSD -> FreeBSD
    FreeBSD + Mach -> Darwin
    Mac OS + Darwin -> Mac OS X

    Kickstart + Workbench -> Amiga OS
    QDOS -> MS-DOS
    MS-DOS -> Windows
    OS/2 + Amiga OS + Windows -> OS/2 Warp

    BSD + Windows + OS/2 -> Windows NT
    Windows -> Windows 9x
    Windows NT + Windows 9x -> Windows XP

    Unix V7 -> MINIX
    MINIX -> Linux
    Linux + GNU = GNU/Linux

    Perhaps not perfectly accurate. Not meant to represent direct evolution, merely important influences.
     
    Taza, Sep 21, 2008
    #7
  8. The Magpie

    The Magpie Balance, in all things Veteran

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    I'm using a UNIX based computer right now, so I suppose I really should've voted for one of the Linux clones, but - realistically - removing Windows from the market entirely, you'd probably be looking at IBM's OS2 as the stock operating system, considering the commercial clout of IBM. After all, Lotus was the office suite of choice before it mysteriously vanished into the Bermuda triangle and MSOffice and the hilariously misnomered "Microsoft Works" took over everyone's PC... except mine. :grin:
     
    The Magpie, Sep 23, 2008
    #8

  9. hedron Gems: 7/31
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    Why wasn't this on the poll? Windows dominated in part because it was the geeks OS of choice. I think most geeks would have gone with Commodore as that was the most popular computer in the 80s and only really died because DOS was a secondary choice of the geek/gamer. Maybe I should have voted for other. Apple was just a knee jerk reaction.

    But... Windows/DOS dominated the business sector. This was the market Apple was aiming at when it introduced the Mac and why all the original line was black and white. With Microsoft out of the picture, who knows? AFAIK, Commodore didn't really make any headway into this market. Also, Apple did make its way into class rooms in the 80s and usually what you learn is what you're going to use.

    I don't think any of the others would stand much of a chance against either Commodore or Apple. IBM OS/2 only, IIRC, existed because it was a collaboration with Microsoft. Linux got started as a Unix clone and programmers project not really intended for mass acceptance and would likely be in the same position it is today, only running on different hardware.
     
    hedron, Sep 24, 2008
    #9

  10. The Magister Gems: 26/31
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    Lest we forget Bill Gates did not develop the base code and idea for windows, but bought it off some guy for a few thousand, then build on it. I say that windows would have risen in some form or another but for the sake of the Poll I'll say Mac
     
    The Magister, Oct 22, 2008
    #10
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