Re: How did Microsoft break away from OS/2 and IBM?


"DN" <dn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:Xns97AECDD266BD4dndndndn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I was surprised to read that Microsoft was codeveloping OS/2 with IBM in
the late 80s. What was the nature of the agreement and how did Microsoft
break away from it? Were both IBM and Microsoft planning to release OS/2?

I tell you the story as I know it, from reading a few sources and magazines
of the time.

The nature of the agreement was to bring a new operating system for the
Intel 80286 platform. IBM did promise to its customers to release a new OS
for its IBM AT, mainly to take advantage of the ( disfunctional ) protected
mode the new processor brought to the table.

So the then little Microsoft started working on it, albeit at a very slow
pace. Eventually, the Intel 80386 processor came out earlier than expected
and got the two companies in the akward situation of developing a new OS for
an old CPU.

Microsoft insisted to scrap work on 286 compatible releases and move
immediately to the 386 platform. IBM disagreed. An IBM internal memo written
by founder Watson states that if IBM does a promise to its customers, it's
mandatory to fulfill that promise, regardless. So in 1987, OS/2 for the
80286 came out ( 1.0 ).

However, a rift escalated between the two companies, not only on commercial
disagreements, but also developing ones. A good comparison is the bloated
OS/2 1.2 to the clean OS/2 1.3; the latter has been developed solely by IBM,
polished up and actually just rebranded "Microsoft" when sold to OEM. A
split took place by the release of OS/2 1.2, with IBM taking care of the 286
versions and Microsoft carrying the OS to the new technology. Microsoft
started developing OS/2 3.0, a 32 bit version of the operating system.

Through all these years, at the same time, in order to lure users to the new
OS, a product called Windows was developed and made blatantly similiar, in
fashion, to the OS/2 1.x Presentation Manager... What happened later?
Windows became so popular that Bill Gates and his generals understood a
broad market was already there, and forcing users to move to OS/2 was really
unnecessary, commercially speaking. IBM's Jim Cannavino forsaw as well the
potential of Windows, and had interest in buying 40% of Microsoft, to cement
that market share to IBM. No deal was made and Microsoft, taking advantage
of the growing userbase, started pushing Windows _against_ OS/2 1.x. IBM got
mad about it and they acrimonoiusly split and parted ways for good.

Microsoft took its work on OS/2 3.0 and simply made it Windows NT 3.1.
Windows NT 3.1 is nothing but OS/2 with 32 bit support and the old
Presentation Manager Interface, renamed for the occasion "Desktop Manager".
OS/2 1.x support was built in as well as HPFS support. OS/2 in all but the
name.

IBM came up with OS/2 2.0. This time, Commodore Intl. lent a hand to IBM to
design the new interface; enter the workplace shell. OS/2 2.0 was 32 bit, it
was capable of running Windows 3.x applications better than NT 3.1 was, DOS
applications and OS/2 1.x applications. I remember that it had a huge impact
on the media of the time. The peak was OS/2 Warp 3. When it came out, I
remember all Italian magazines did embrace it and it sold so good,
worldwide, that Microsoft had to implement documented irregular marketing
tactics to shut that success down, in favour of its ridicoulus Windows 95.

Riccardo












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