Microsoft Windows

1107 Words3 Pages

Microsoft has always sought to carve its own path, predicting a future where everyone will have access to the Internet and handheld devices and computers throughout the home. Their talent has been, and they hope will continue to be, to lead the way in developing innovative products that exceed customers' expectations. From the beginning, Microsoft has forged joint ventures with other companies also at the head of computer innovation.

Microsoft's first joint venture was with Apple in 1982 to develop the Macintosh prototype. This venture was successful at first, but soon led to a lawsuit by Apple against Microsoft in 1988. Apple had licensed certain parts of its graphical user interface to Microsoft to use in Windows 1.0, but when Microsoft came out with version 2.03, Apple claimed Microsoft had stolen certain elements. The court ruled in favor of Microsoft saying that most of the interface elements were covered by the 1985 license. (Linzmayer, 1999)

Microsoft's second joint venture was with IBM to develop OS/2. IBM was directly involved in the design and implementation of this software. OS/2 was important to IBM's software plans which included dominating the computer mainframe market (Gates, 57). Microsoft preferred to develop software with many different users in mind, while IBM wanted software that would promote the sale of its own hardware.

"All the delays and friction between IBM and Microsoft postponed the full version of OS/2, with its graphical user interface, until late 1988, and the customers paid no attention even once it finally reached the market. Rather than pricing OS/2 cheaply...IBM charged $340. The product required so much memory that people had to buy two thousand dollars' worth of extra memory...

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