Warp wrote:
> Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
>> And *that* is exactly the invention that made Microsoft rich, right after 
>> Digital Research showed them how to do it.  Write the OS that isn't bound to 
>> a specific hardware configuration.
> 
>   Yeah, that's why Windows works only on PC's?

You're missing my point. The point is that if you build hardware, there's a 
cost in factories and parts and labor for each and every piece you sell. The 
cost of selling an additional copy of Windows is (at this point) entirely 
born by the people pre-installing it. MS doesn't even have to press CDs for 
most of their sales.

The point is not that it works on lots of different processors. The point is 
that Microsoft managed to turn hardware into a commodity, which lowers the 
price of hardware, which means more people can buy hardware, which means MS 
can sell more operating systems at the expense (in profits) of the hardware 
manufacturers who are competing with each other.

Nobody competes with Apple's hardware. Lots of people compete with Dell, 
Gateway, HP, etc.

>   If you want an OS which is really not bound to a hardware configuration,
> try Linux or NetBSD. (NetBSD's motto is "of course it runs NetBSD!")

Hop in the way-back machine to when MS-DOS first came out. How many machines 
running Z80's or 8080's were running CP/M compared to other operating 
systems? How many 6502s were running AppleDOS vs something else?  How many 
TRS-80's could you run CP/M on? How many Vectors could you run TRS-DOS on?

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
    Ada - the programming language trying to avoid
    you literally shooting yourself in the foot.

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