Word: ibm
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...PS/2 and OS/2 have failed to catch on, mainly because of glitches and constant delays. As a result, the duo that created the industry's hottest product of the 1980s is parting ways. IBM is developing its upgrade of OS/2, while Microsoft is making a separate version, setting up a competition for dominance in desktop computers, the most important segment of an important industry. "It's an interesting sideshow," says Gates. "But it will be the marketplace that decides the winner...
...IBM may win the race -- it expects to introduce its new OS/2 by year-end -- but that doesn't mean it will prevail. Microsoft is attracting a dedicated following to its successful Windows software, which lets users juggle a variety of programs at once. While Windows is not as muscular as OS/2, Gates sees it as a bridge leading customers from DOS to OS/2 in a smooth transition. He thinks that is important: "Switching overnight to OS/2 is too great a leap," he says...
Microsoft's battle with IBM is far from Gates's only concern. Prompted by his competitors, the Federal Trade Commission is looking into possible Microsoft violations of antitrust laws. At issue is whether the company's role as supplier of both operating systems (the basic programs that make a computer work) and applications software (the programs that do word processing, calculating and other jobs) gives it an unfair advantage. More than 80% of all personal computers use the company's DOS, while an additional 3% use OS/2. One rival, Go Corp., charges that Microsoft swiped its idea for a software...
...students, who generally prefer controlling computers to being programmed by them. Moreover, studies show that children learn their math tables faster, and more cost- effectively, when drilled by fellow students rather than by machine. Some educators are even starting to re-examine such well-established instructional packages as IBM's Writing to Read program. Since 1984, IBM has sold more than 8,500 copies of the $16,500 system, which uses tape recordings and personal computers to teach language skills to kindergarten and first-grade students. Several research articles, including one last summer in the well-regarded Journal of Computer...
Under siege at every rampart, IBM looks a bit less invincible...