Xref: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu alt.fan.bill-gates:994 comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy:7799 comp.os.ms-windows.misc:10850Newsgroups: alt.fan.bill-gates,comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.miscPath: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!rochester!cornell!batcomputer!caen!uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!walter!qualcom.qualcomm.com!happy!rdippoldFrom: rdippold@qualcomm.com (Ron "Asbestos" Dippold)Subject: Re: Challenge to Microsoft supporters.Message-ID: <rdippold.737665751@happy>Originator: rdippold@happy.qualcomm.comSender: news@qualcomm.comNntp-Posting-Host: happy.qualcomm.comOrganization: Qualcomm, Inc., San Diego, CAReferences: <twalls.02vo@ncc1701d.demon.co.uk> <C716uq.II3@feenix.metronet.com> <1993May14.210055.25497@klaava.Helsinki.FI> <C73MMy.HHK@feenix.metronet.com>Date: Mon, 17 May 1993 19:09:11 GMTLines: 31jack@feenix.metronet.com (Jack Hudler) writes:>It's called the free enterprize system. I suggests that those who wish to>enhance DOS, do it, an sell it, or give it away. Microsoft can't be >everything to everyone! period!It has been done, but the other companies don't have the marketingbudgets that MS do.  4DOS, for instance, is everything thatCOMMAND.COM should have been (but never could be under MS).  Those whouse it usually find it more addictive than crack cocaine.  But theyhave to rely on word of mouth for sales.  It seems to have workedpretty good so far, but your corporate weenie manager type usuallylikes to see a big glossy ad in PC Magazine.  That's okay, marketingisn't a fundamental human right, but they've got a product that'ssuperior to the DOS command interpreter in every way.  They have a lotmore to be proud of than MS does.  If MS really gave a damn, theycould duplicate it, buy it outright (they've got the money), or evenuse the old ruse of sending engineers out to help them withcompatability issues and absconding with the technology.DOS is a mediocre product at a cheap price backed up by top notchmarketing and vendor agreements.  The "mediocre" was excusable in theearly days when it was someone else's hack, but they've had ten yearsto play with it.An interesting thought on that: Most MS products that I'm aware of inthe last few years allow you to access the names of the designers andprogrammers through easter egg screens, including Windows, or at leasthave the names buried in the files.  Is there such a thing in DOS 5.0and 6.0, or are they too ashamed to have their names on it?-- There's at least one fool in every married couple.