Re: XyWrite & Warp

[Robert Holmgren]

 Is there any truth to the rumor I'm hearing that Win95 b2 "looks just like"
OS/2 v3.0 aka Warp? I also hear MS is claiming that IBM "stole" the Desktop
look&feel. More bizarre, I hear there was an interview in InfoWorld in which
Gates lamented the fact that he wasn't able to name Windows NT "OS/2 3.0".
Whew! Robert Tishkevich's insight about this: "I read that article and found
it fascinating . . . for two reasons. One, Gates is obviously very frustrated
that OS/2 will not go away and is in fact becoming more popular every day. I
think he is truly surprised by that. Second, I think he knows OS/2 is better
than Win 95 and he really wanted, and still wants, NT (which is OS/2) to become
the dominant operating system." All I can say is that I've enjoyed the last 3
years A.D. (post DOS) immensely, and I think the next period is going to be
even more fun. It *could* be a prolonged contest, you know. I gather that
MS's dilemma now is whether Win95 should be very similar to Win3.11 -- in which
case lotsa people will feel comfortable with it (and, presumably, buy it); or
else it should try to go head-to-head against OS/2, in which case Win95 really
has to be decidedly better than OS/2.

 And what about NT? Wasn't it "the future"? There's a distinct chance that
Win95 will sputter like NT did; and then MS will have no choice except to roll
out the PR apparatus and start vaporizing about Beijing or Baghdad, yet another
deliverer. We'll see.