Microsoft's Ancient History w/ Unix 403
NutscrapeSucks writes "The Register is running
a article which discusses Microsoft's experience running their own version of UNIX, called Xenix, as their standard desktop operating system. Before they got involved with OS/2 and later NT, Microsoft considered UNIX to be the PC operating system of the future. Talks about Bill Gates running vi, difficulties with AT&T, and other interesting tidbits."
There's a lot of stuff everyone knows, and a lot of stuff you probably didn't
know. Worth a read.
It's a weak form of Unix (Score:5, Funny)
So Scientology has Xenu... (Score:2, Funny)
...and Microsoft has Xenix.
Coincidence? I think not.
Re:This isn't surprising. (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe this will become the single most powerful argument in the emacs vs. vi religious war.
Gates as a closet Linux user (Score:4, Funny)
Re:The Microsoft Borg analogy (Score:2, Funny)
Wrong Way (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Yet more proof microsoft is actually... (Score:4, Funny)
msdos ...? (Score:5, Funny)
And that way MS-DOS isn't Microsoft Disk Operating System but Microsoft's Dirty Operating System.
First they took out the Quick Bits and kept the dirty bits....
roger
Re:This isn't surprising. (Score:2, Funny)
Pico does not like escapes much.
Re:Windows NT == VMS (Score:3, Funny)
I'll bet you get to be employee of the month a lot, too.
Re:This isn't surprising. (Score:5, Funny)
** Use of Hitler in Arguement Detected: AUTOMATIC LOSS **
Ok, I lose.
Re:If Bill didn't abandon Xenix... (Score:5, Funny)
graspee
Re:If Bill didn't abandon Xenix... (Score:2, Funny)
Your standing in your bedroom/gaage/server closet/basement/dens/etc. and everything appears to be the same. You fire up your linux box. Everything seems normal, all is as it was in your original plane of exsistance.
The login prompt appears, your username/password in this counterpart universe and yours is identical, but.....
Instead of your default shell you see...
C:\
N000000000000000000000000000!!!!!!!!!
Xenix XP (Score:3, Funny)
You might find this funny:
Xenix XP [wubda.com]
MD
Re:Vi is the tool of Satan (Score:4, Funny)
Re:M$ used Xenix until 96-97 (Score:4, Funny)
Simple--use SourceSafe as your source code control system.
Re:This isn't surprising. (Score:3, Funny)
+10 Funny!
Xenix or dogfood? (Score:3, Funny)
Funny, that. When I was at MS from 94 to 95 or so, there were still quite a few Xenix systems around in the "Business Systems" group or whatever the hell they were calling it then. I found it particularly humorous because I was working on the MS Exchange Server project, and here my co-workers were using Xenix mail. Some folks apparently wanted to *read* their email, not just to "eat dogfood"
When I think what MS *could* have done with the amount of development effort that went into MSExchange v. 1.0^H^H^H 4.0, if they had applied it to Xenix mail... We'd have rock-solid secure email that'd be delivered before it was sent, managed by a system running on a 486 with 16mb ram, hosting 10,000 accounts. Instead, we have memory leaks, a GUI designed by Smurfs, and secure coding philosophies that led to inclusion of auto-executing-content as message body (= by-design vehicle for viruses, which we reported internally in the company in '95). What a waste.
The hell with it, I'm buying a Mac.