If you have to wonder about that you have no business sense whatsoever.
"Adam Albright" <AA@ABC.net> wrote in message
news:uk9644hi999a6np0kmg3ed133egbgse7ev@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 01 Jun 2008 21:44:33 GMT, "Canuck57"
> <dave-no_spam@unixhome.net> wrote:
>
>>
>>"Adam Albright" <AA@ABC.net> wrote in message
>>news:cvj54496f6aan8oguok3deqgev6oodq5k3@4ax.com. ..
>>
>>> Fast forward to 1981. IBM noticed Apple's growing success but also
>>> realized their major blunder using a closed architecture, just stupid
>>> and based on greed. Literally overnight IBM put together a team of 12
>>> engineers who with off the shelf parts gave birth to the PC using Open
>>> Architecture. Shortly before IBM for reasons only God knows approached
>>> Bill Gates, a total nobody at the time to write a OS for this PC. You
>>> know the rest of that story.
>>
>>I know some history on this. IBM designed the PC, 8088 @ 4.7 MHz.
>>Trouble
>>was IBM started building them and warehousing them before their internal
>>OS
>>development was finished with Digital Research. Boca Ratan comes to mind,
>>anyway IBM had big problems and was desperate for a working OS. Someone
>>found Microsoft as an alternative to the failing relationship with Digital
>>Research. For Microsoft, MS-DOS was originally known as QDOS (Quick and
>>Dirty OS) which borrowed from CP/M. Essentially, MS-DOS was stripped down
>>CP/M. Also added was Basic to the BIOS, borrowed from earlier works on
>>the
>>PET and Altair ports and then IBM had a PC with OS/programming.
>>Initially,
>>IBM actually helped people market and paid people to write programs for
>>this
>>PC. I believe Microsoft got $25 per MS-DOS sold via IBM.
>>
>>Competators at the time included: Apple, Tandy/Radio Shack and Commodore
>>Pet and a few others. There were plenty of micro based systems, 6800,
>>6502,
>>8080, Z80 and others before the 8088 IBM PC. IBMs ants in the pants to
>>get
>>to market as they could forsee the micro based personal market going big
>>time and they wanted in fast.
>>
>>While Bill is credited with the founding of Microsoft, this is folk lore.
>>A
>>real known picture of the Microsoft 11:
>>
>> http://kennethg.blogspot.com/2006/06...-founders.html
>>
>>11 or 12 people started Microsoft, most of which were moved asside before
>>or
>>when Ballmer came into Microsoft in 1980. There is a lot of hidden
>>stories
>>in this period to tell as American media likes the single shining knight
>>story. That is, Bill Gates is not the single founder of Microsoft, not
>>even
>>apartner, but one of many. But Ballmer was with Microsoft just before
>>they
>>hit it big time with the IBM contract.
>
> One thing I've always wondered about is why IBM the powerhouse it was
> and still is didn't write it's own OS for their PC totally in house.
>
> I've seen that famous picture many times. I think history never gave
> Paul Allen, extreme right bottom row much credit.
>