On 7/7/23 16:30, Bret Busby wrote:
Microsoft didn't invent anything.
This is highly off topic, but Microsoft 'invented' a lot of stuff much in the say way that many GNU developers 'invented' stuff.
This is a process of continual adaptation of existing software and methodology. In the Microsoft case a lot if that was bought in, but a lot was independently developed internally.
Specifically Windows NT was a custom evolution of several operating systems including VMS. FWIW I think the core Microsoft NT OS is not that bad a design.
The Microsoft Windows model was evolved from earlier Xerox software and provides at the very base a decent GDI programmer model. The look and feel of Windows was then adopted by the likes of Gnome - but not the clean API and graphic engine model.
As an aside, one of the really good decisions of Microsoft was to steer clear of the X server model. X-server alone has hampered Linux GUI development for decades now.
And, for reference, I use Windows when I have to and prefer Debian in a Mate environment. I'd be an awful lot happier if X on Linux died a well deserved death. I also have a lot of experience developing GUI applications on Windows, X-Windows, and custom hardware.
Jeremy (Native language English, variant Australian)
