From: drew@kinglear.cs.colorado.edu (Drew Eckhardt) Subject: Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: Alpha release Linux/GNU/X unix clone on CDROM for PC's Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1992 03:18:48 GMT
In article <ByK34u.CEt@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu> papresco@cantor.math.uwaterloo.ca (Paul Prescod) writes:
>I agree 100%. But perhaps price isn't the issue as much as
>ease of use
Word Perfect is among the most popular word processors on the PC,
inspite of its nonintuitive interface with obscenities like F7 for
help.
To do anything usefull with DOS (as in play a simple game),
you have to load in a memory mangler such as QEMM-386 or
EMM386, arrange your TSRs (as in essentials, like a
mouse driver, CD ROM extensions, etc) in some arbitrary order
so there are no conflicts, tweak various parameters like
FILES, and run another pseudo-operating system like Desqview or
Windows on top of it. Still, a large portion of PC owners
run DOS.
>word of mouth
Everyone I know with MicroSloth Windoze complains about the snail's
pace at which it runs and general instability of the system. At
the same time, they still use it and Windoze/DOS are bundled with
virtually every new PC sold.
>reputation
Virtually all of the Windoze users I know saw 3.1 as a $50 bug fix
to 3.1. There was a second map package for Ultima Underworld that
was essentially a bug fix for things like items in your inventory
disappearing for no reason. Poor reputation doesn't necessarily
have a real impact on sales.
>marketing
One valid point - marketing. The marketing departments at major
software companies could sell refridgerators to the eskimos.
-- Boycott AT&T for their absurd anti-BSDI lawsuit. | Drew Eckhardt Condemn Colorado for Amendment Two. | drew@cs.colorado.edu Use Linux, the fast, flexible, and free 386 unix |