Re:Microsoft Has It All—Almost (1985)
by amyjess on Monday November 20, 2017 @04:38PM
(#15743529)
> They added operating systems like MS-DOS and later MS Windows & Window NT. MS-DOS was an acquisition but Windows NT was homegrown by hiring Dave Cutler.
It's worth mentioning that Windows NT was their third try at a high-end OS, and it was the only one that was entirely homegrown.
First was Xenix, which was a collaboration with SCO and based on Unix code licensed from AT&T. Then, the government gave AT&T the go-ahead to commercialize Unix themselves, so Microsoft panicked and abandoned Xenix, eventually giving SCO full ownership.
To replace Xenix, Microsoft partnered with IBM to create OS/2. Ultimately, Microsoft and IBM fell out, and IBM ended up with ownership of OS/2, so that didn't work out.
But DEC was going through a bunch of turmoil at the time, so Microsoft took advantage of it and poached VMS creator Dave Cutler and had him create NT.
It's worth mentioning that Windows NT was their third try at a high-end OS, and it was the only one that was entirely homegrown.
First was Xenix, which was a collaboration with SCO and based on Unix code licensed from AT&T. Then, the government gave AT&T the go-ahead to commercialize Unix themselves, so Microsoft panicked and abandoned Xenix, eventually giving SCO full ownership.
To replace Xenix, Microsoft partnered with IBM to create OS/2. Ultimately, Microsoft and IBM fell out, and IBM ended up with ownership of OS/2, so that didn't work out.
But DEC was going through a bunch of turmoil at the time, so Microsoft took advantage of it and poached VMS creator Dave Cutler and had him create NT.
It's amazing how things worked out.