Remco de Korte wrote:
> 
> I think there is a misunderstanding here. Saying one OS is a standard doesn't
> imply another to be inferior, does it?
> The obvious comparison is video where there were a couple if systems that were
> generally considered to be superior but still VHS became the standard.

I think we may be referring to "Standard" with different intentions. I propose
this: Windows is not a standard per se, but it uses many standards that others,
and Microsoft, have created or are trying to create (and in some cases have been
pushed upon us).

The study of human factors and GUI design have been driven jointly by the
capabilities that an OS can give us, the way people interact with information,
human factors specialists who study how we process information, real-world
analogs like lists, buttons, etc. In my recollection, Xerox, Macintosh - perhaps
even Amiga - had a say in the development of this new area. When Windows came
around a lot of these ideas had been in place already. Without some research,
it's hard to say who contributed what to the still-evolving concensus of what
makes the best GUI, but there are definite standards that have evolved, and you
can see the similarities in the way things work between Gnome, KDE, MS-Windows,
Macintosh, IRIX, Amiga, etc. And when the WWW began rising to prominence and
Netscape was dominant, Microsoft was caught sleeping, but look at the standards
that have emerged from that which have become part of the way we interact with
computers - Microsoft had very little to do with "innovation" there, although
they tried to foist various things upon us and tried to hijack Java. They have
followed the lead of the industry in this case. Arguably, OpenGL has become the
standard in 3D graphics APIs, and MIcrosoft has used this.

So, we have to be careful in making sure we all understand what is meant by
saying something or other is the standard. 


> BTW, shouldn't this discussion be in OT? (where I wouldn't read it...)

Yes, it foes, but I wouldn't read it there
either and this is kind of fun ;-)

-- 
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Jon S. Berndt
League City, Texas
jsb### [at] hal-pcorg

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