“This piece is the first in a series of articles that seeks to answer two basic questions: ‘Where would the computing world be if Microsoft never existed?’ and ‘Would the computing world be better off without its 20 years of influence?’ This series will start off with an unbiased, alternate history in which Microsoft doesn’t rise to power. Then, alternate histories will be constructed for various key players (past and present) to examine how they might have ended up had Microsoft not existed. Finally, after analyzing the most likely ‘alternate’ course of history a conclusion will be reached to determine whether or not Microsoft’s existence has ultimately done more harm than good,” James R. Stoup writes for Apple Matters.
Stoup writes, “While writing these articles various opinions were solicited from different types of users. Most people fell into one of two categories: the ‘Microsoft Unites’ camp and the ‘Microsoft Suppresses’ camp. Depending then, on which side one favors, Microsoft’s influence on history (or lack thereof) will either be positive or negative.”
Stoup plans a six-part series of articles:
1: What if Microsoft never existed?
2: A Destiny Destroyed
3: Amiga, Apple, HP, Dell and IBM, Hardware Without the “Microsoft Tax”
4: Apple, Amiga, BeOS, Linux and Unix, how the Other Operating Systems Fared
5: Intel, AMD, Motorola and IBM, Rise of the Machines
6: Where Could We Be?
“Part 1 – What if Microsoft never existed?” full article here.
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Related MacDailyNews article:
FBI: Viruses, spyware, other computer-related crimes cost U.S. businesses $67.2 billion per year – February 01, 2006
We would have had hundreds of billions more tax dollars to spend lost to malware. One missile for each and every American to protect themselves from terrorists, for example.
Yea, Ampar, the cost of putting in a silo in my backyard with the latest I.C.B.M. is just way too costly!
We wouldn’t have monkey boy videos to entertain ourselves with.
We would have Halo on the Mac and only on the Mac back in 2000 like it was demo’ed at MW1999
Microsoft was not bad until it had the near monopoly. Most of the early computers used Microsoft’s BASIC, but IBM’s decision to build the PC from commodity parts opened the door for Microsoft to reach the next level as they could sell to anyone. DOS was not bad, it was nothing special but it was not bad. Culprit number two is Apple, they (Sculley) gave MS all they needed to make windows viable.
Where would the world be without Microsoft? Probably with a smaller computer market, but a more advanced one as hardware competition would have brought out more advances. Microsoft created the commodity PC market that has produced the explosion of computers will starving the R&D.
Would Steve Jobs have ever been forced out and created NeXT? Perhaps Microsoft is the necessary evil.
We will never know, perhaps it is best to just trust in Providence.
Ampar
The USA needs more missiles? How about better schools and free healthcare?
And back on topic,
Amiga would still have bit the dust.
UNIX and Linux would still be marginal players.
Apple OS10 would be OS9 with a few extra bells and whistles.
Microsoft’s playing dirty has caused other players to raise their game. Mac computing for one is better thanks to MS being there. The human race as a whole has possibly suffered. There’s a lot of brainy people who could have been better applied.
Symantec and McAffee wouldn’t be household names. On the other hand, we’d all be complaining about Steve Jobs’ monopoly on the personal computer market.
Halo AND Duke Nukem Forever! And the Earth would have been renamed Blisstonia.
TF: Don’t go ballistic! I think Popular Science a few issues back showed how to make your own silo. And the intarweb has the scoop on do-it-yourself trajectiles. It’s all in the details.
20 years in the future
Dave: turn up your sarcasm meter! How about a missile that delivers medicine to poor nations?
I like Bobby’s take, I think it has somehow held back innovation. It is a bit like the auto industry, the internal combustion engine is still essentially the same as it was when it was invented, but this one ‘standard’ has given many many people independance. There are so many sides to this discussion, standards do seem to stifle, but the upside is that it allows more people to participate.
Ampar
Now you’re talking. As long as it’s not exploding medicine.
“Take three times a day, via flesh wounds”
And in the alternate universe of Mac users, a certain Mr. Stoup conjectures…
Ho-hum.
Dave:
I hear that the Pentagon is working on missiles that only target bad people. That’s the real reason for Vista. It has secret built-in “bad people” masking that creates a shield over Redmond, WA. This is very hush hush. In fact, I heard that a hunting buddy of Dick Cheney’s found out about this.
Apple and ist more artistic way of computing just needs the Microsoft challenge to make the beautiful things they have now.
Let Microsoft be the Office and Mac’s be the Studio.
Question:
“Where would the computing world be if Microsoft never existed?”
Corollary:
“How could Mac users cope if they didn’t have M$ to hate?”
Cannibalism comes to mind…
Ampar
Ouch! You said something bad about a member of the administration. Now you’ll unleash four hundred comments about terrorist-loving liberals.
(Once high school gets out for the day anyway)
EMU
We don’t hate Microsoft. We just hate Microsoft evangelists.
Sound like anyone you know?
Every household would have 2 or 3 $6500.00 Apple Macs. Sure they would.
Windoze may be the suckiest suck that ever sucked, but at least M$ has helped commoditize the PC and drive down the price.
Dave,
Better schools, yes we pay enough we deserve better. But free healthcare? It’s never free, someone has to pays for it.
I haven’t received my missile yet, are they free?
M/W feed. as in: Dave, does the supermarket need to “feed” you for free?
Is it just me or are these threads on MDN becoming a waste of time?
I don’t seem to learn anything from them now and reading inane posts like these is a waste of my time.
From a grumpy old man (in case you hadn’t guessed).
Sounds like everyone on this blog just needs a big group hug!
Isn’t Valentines Day tomorrow?
Just keeping with the spirit of things…
Evangelist.
Why do Mac people always have to bring religion into the equation? Honestly, that’s beginning to freak me out. Makes me wonder whether our Mac guy could go postal on me should anything bad ever happen to Apple…
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Jerry T “does the supermarket need to “feed” you for free?”
No, but then I have bags of cash. Some people aren’t as fortunate as I am.
It isn’t communism to have a bit of compassion.
EMU
Step away from the Redmond spin and listen to yourself and your colleagues. I’m a network guy. i’ve worked with Microsofties time and again. They never even bother to look at competing products, and don’t even realise that something can be done unless spoonfed it by their MCP courses. They are truly blinded to alternatives, and scoff at anything that is at odds to their world view.
You don’t need a religion to have a fanatic.
What a load of useless rubbish? Apple Matters is unbiased? Well no! It’s a pro Apple web site. That’s why it’s one of my favourite web sites. And when we talk about alternate history we get very close to science fiction.
The clincher however is this line:
“…In a true free-market economy the superior product (BetaMax excluded) will ultimately win. And the customer will eventually get the best product possible at the lowest price. This principle has held true in almost every industry whether it be the auto industry, textiles, TV, audio transmission, fast food, telephones, guns, medicine and everything in between. So, if all of these other industries can benefit from competition why can’t the computer industry gain as well?”
There is no such thing as free market economy; not when you have governments which pass laws ranging from consumer protection, labour regulation through to anti-trust legislation. By their very nature, these laws ameliorate the excesses of unfettered capitalism. It’s one of the main reasons we have governments. Add to that fiscal and monetary policies and what you have is a private enterprise economy.
You can’t talk about a free market economy because it doesn’t exist, but then again this an alternate history so anything is possible…even flying saucers.
I don’t know. Applematters seems to be grasping for articles. Does Applematters matter? Not really.
They better cover some other systems. I think one, that had a really good chance to go somewhere was the Atari ST. I owned one of these. Bought it over a Mac when I was starting high school. Why? Cause it had everything the macintosh had plus color. It’s GEM operating system was great.
The Atari died a pointless, early death. The company never did anything with it. It was sad.
What if the question were: Where would we be if Apple had never existed? Would we all be using the command line? would only geeks be using computers? Would there desktop publishing? How would it effect the world as we know it?
Dave H,
I don’t doubt you’ve had bad experiences with “Microsofties” – I’ve had bad experiences with them, too! Believe me, I’ve had to get rid of a number of “paper” MCSEs over the years because they were nothing but bookworms with no sense of how to work in the real world.
I once worked with an MCSE from Compaq who didn’t know how to do a simple “Net Use” from the console. Needless to say, she didn’t last very long on my team.
But you’ve never worked with me, so don’t generalize too much.
Bill Gates would be doing lap dances in a gay bar.
EMU
Then you, sir, are the exception to the rule. I’ve had to talk MCSEs on numerous occasions through very basic tasks, including stupid things like how to get the address for the DHCP server from the command line, or what a PTR record is. Chuck anything non-Microsoft into the mix and they go completely to pieces.
I truly hope at some point in the future to work with you and allow you the chance to prove me wrong.
Until then, though, you will have to bear with my sniping
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Dave H,
As I may have said in another thread – my visits to MDN are for yucks. And if one can’t stand the heat one shouldn’t stay in the kitchen…
Snipe away… it’s all in good fun on my side.
Cheers.
Dave H,
BTW – my favorite put-down for the “paper” MCSEs is calling them “addicted to the GUI”. They hate that.
Maybe I give them a hard time because I’m not an MCSE…
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Harry, there is no reason to deprive the office worker of intuitive interfaces and, dare I say, actually a fun and enjoyable computer experience. Microsoft has NO CLUE how to create and innovate the user interface.
Rather than “What if no Microsoft?”, I think the opposite and much more important question should be asked: What if design was more like a Mac? Image a car, city bus, or an entire factory by Jonathan Ives and his team?
If there were no Microsoft, Apple could have lead the way. We would NOT be tolerant of buggy operating systems and 100,000+ intrusions and weaknesses. Microsoft has BSed and lulled the US population into being a helpless victim in the world of computers and technology. As such, people tend to tolerate huge flaws in other complex systems; even the US congress itself is seen as being too complex and corrupt to attempt to fix.
What if Apple made a new country, a new form of government never tried before? Do you think that is too ridiculous of a question to even imagine for a moment? If so, then you have already been brainwashed by Microsoft, and you belong in this group…
http://www.np.edu.sg/~pcb/movies/lemmings.mov
What’s that got to do with Dave H’s point?!?
EMU
Then you just went up in my estimation.
Now, be true to yourself and come into the light. All the goodness of the BASH shell awaits.
Mike B wrote:
“What if Apple made a new country, a new form of government never tried before?”
You know, there are a lot of islands for sale in the Pacific. That should be workable.
AAPL will have to do it soon, though. Before the stock price drops any further…
Al Gore wouldn´t be on the Apple Board of Directors.
Some other operating system would have arose to beat Apple. You think Gates is a bad monopolist, wait until Steve gets in that situation.
iDon’t: Whew. Funny and sickening at the same time! Except that he came from a wealthy family. He would have been caught up in worthless start-ups like groceries or pet food over the web. Or he might’ve gotten lucky with internet porn or writing viruses.
Ampar wrote:
“Or he might’ve gotten lucky with internet porn or writing viruses.”
Whoa! Isn’t there a contradiction here? Isn’t it the popular Mac belief that if Windoze didn’t exist there would be no viruses?
Please explain.
I’ve figured it out! If Microsoft never existed we’d all hate the gigantic Apple monolith right now. HATE!
(Okay, naah. Just kidding. I hate MYSELF.)
Dave H — Don’t confuse a free ride with “compassion”. SOMEBODY pays for everything.
It’s far more “compassionate” to teach people how to stand up on their own rather than have big daddy government do everything for them.
You’ve got plenty of that mentality all over Europe — seen it first hand myself — and we don’t want more of it here. There’s too much already.
He’s baaaaaaack! The clone’s baaaaaaack!
Honestly, I think this guy’s MDN in drag.
Bill has some talent. Mostly underhanded. My guess is that Gates would sponsor programs that were highly vulnerable so that his viruses and his cure would be in demand.
Dave H- Don’t listen to Lenosuck. We do want more of your Europe stuff. We want your carefree attitudes towards topless women on ads and billboards ‘n stuff. More boobies is always good.
Leno-suck
Lack of healthcare a way to teach people “how to stand up on their own”?
We all pay into the pot, we can all draw from it. It’s about allowing people dignity. And if sometimes workshy scumbags take advantage and play the system, it’s a small price to pay. I’d rather see those in need taken care of.
Where would Microsoft be if Steve Ballmer never existed?
No, really.
Would MS actually be a technology company — rather than the money hungry outfit that it is now?
Let’s put Gates (a mediocre programmer at best) and Allen (the original MS programmer genius) in a room and ask them.
I wonder if either of these people would sacrifice any of their fortune for an extra helping of integrity. Maybe that’s what the B&MGF; and the EMP are supposed to ‘buy’.
–
BTW,
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Experience_Music_Project.html
Strange place, but I’m glad I visited. And, it inspired my kid to take up guitar.
Ampar,
I’m sorry, but pretzel logic I cannot follow. However, the term “rationalization” comes to mind…
Evil_MS_User (the real one)
LOL. Agreed. A loosening of sexual morality never did anyone any harm.
Except for the Roman Empire if course. But what did the Romans ever do for us?
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Evil_MS_User (the real one),
You’re a pox. But you’re good. Very good.
Would you like to take over the sig? I think $1.50 would be fair. I have a PayPal account.
You can still buy a new Amiga with a new version of the OS.
Dave H,
I understand what you mean, I don’t lack compassion.
My point was, I think we toss around the term “free” a little too much. Just because those in need don’t have to pay doesn’t make it free. It isn’t free. Someone must pay for it.
I’m torn. On the one hand, I feel that living and prospering in the richest nation in all of human history, that no one should be hungry. On the other hand, I don’t want the government taking away more of the money that I work for. What to do?
Re: Pretzel Logic.
It’s really pretty easy to understand:
http://www.pretzel.com.au/
I say the less evil, the better. And try to keep the rash out of rationalization since you probably need ointments.
Amiga didn’t bite the dust “You can still buy a new Amiga with a new version of the OS.”
Can you? I thought the AmigaOne finally died last year. It’s sad, but the history of Commodore/Escom/Amiga was a lesson in how not to run a computer manufacturer. The Amiga had about seven millions users worldwide at it’s height. Now it has about seven, and they spend all their time at comp.sys.amiga.advocacy slagging each other off.
Face it. It’s an ex-computer platform. Move to Linux if you haven’t already.
Jerry T
I understand. The irony is you probably do pay nearly enough in your taxes already. It’s just Governments have a clever knack of wasting what taxpayers give them. Sort out the inefficiency and universal healthcare becomes a possibility.
Anyone?
DudeGuy:
Not really sure if MS would have been less money hungry but I am sure that the world would have had more pie and ice cream and fewer OSHA filings for work related injuries in Redmond, Washington.
This is why people hate M$:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1926100,00.asp
Another one bites the dust…
“Where would the computing world be if Microsoft never existed?”
Better off.
And this is something I would support:
http://www.drmwatch.com/special/article.php/3531651
It’s GOOGLE pulling APPLE down.
to many investors ignore logic when they see their google stock lose money and they sell Apple too.
The scary thing is.. GOOGLE is headed to below $200 by the end of this year.
What will that mean for APPLE?
is this a bargain or is this time to get out?
I actually bought some AMAZON shares , if google fails, their A9.com could pick up steam.
I think AMAZON stock is a bargain at these deals, Google’s Decline will not effect it. ( However it seems that Google’s decline does effect Apple’s stock )
No, THIS is something I would support:
http://www.kapturedforyou.com/
Jerry T:
“Every household would have 2 or 3 $6500.00 Apple Macs. Sure they would.”
Close. We’d be using $10,000 sealed-case Lisas that’d we’d be expected to replace twice a year. The user experience, however, would be absolutely perfect; it’d REEK with excellence.
My theory is that, had IBM chose another source for it’s PC DOS, that source would’ve just become the Evil Empire instead. We’d be right where we are today, just with different names & faces in MS’s shoes.
Then again, imagine if that company had good management (no Ballmer lunatics on board), they got their products right, and Windows actually worked. Shudder. Maybe things happen the way they do for a reason!
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I have to agree this is a stupid thread. Reality only happens one way – get over it. If-then fantasies are for weak minded people.
If pigs had wings, they could fly.
From the article:
“Verdict – Microsoft is a necessary evil that should be tolerated and forgiven because of all the good it has done.”<i>
Tell that to Netscape.
So in the article’s universe, MS is good because they established (closed) standards with lousy products. Oh boy. If that’s the case the world should’ve stayed with Apple (VisiCalc, anyone?). The only reason MS got anywhere is because they ran on everybody’s cheap commodity hardware!
Maybe the real question is, “What if Apple got into the PC business via a trip to the spare parts shelf, like IBM did?”
<i>”…we would all be driving Fords, getting 9 miles per gallon of gas, with no air bags, and the basic design of the car wouldn’t have changed for the last 30 years.”
Ford’s Crown Victoria has air bags, but the rest of the statement is true.
“Where would the computing world be if Microsoft never existed?”
Hmmm. Give Apple and Linux another decade and rephrase the question, “How has the computing world progressed since the demise of the Microsoft monopoly?
The world would be a better place with a lot more to choose from. Microsoft is important to the computer industry, but they’re also a major liability!
</b>Dave H:</b>>
Can you? I thought the AmigaOne finally died last year. It’s sad, but the history of Commodore/Escom/Amiga was a lesson in how not to run a computer manufacturer. The Amiga had about seven millions users worldwide at it’s height. Now it has about seven, and they spend all their time at comp.sys.amiga.advocacy slagging each other off.
Face it. It’s an ex-computer platform. Move to Linux if you haven’t already.
I still have fond memories of the Amiga – who else had a fully pre-emptive multitaksing (home) operating system that could do video @ 30FPS in 1985? The thing that kept them limping along twoard the end was their niche market in video production (remember the video toaster/genlock), and it did 3-D rendering very well for the time (anyone who owned an Amiga has surely seen ‘The Juggler’ 3-D animation) – Although you would have to start it rendering and then wait about 16 hours for it to finish!! All in all, it was a groundbreaking system at the time. I had an A500, A2000(my personal fave of the lot), and an A3000. My A500 only had 512K and it could multitask quite well
given that it was only a 7.16 Mhz machine.
But, alas….time marches on….