> On Saturday, August 12, 2023 at 05:54:10 PM PDT, Grant Taylor wrote: >>On 8/7/23 12:26 PM, Jon Perryman wrote: >> Was it a smart decision for IBM to sell the software that became Microsoft?
> Please clarify what IBM sold to Microsoft. > - Microsoft had (MS-)DOS independent of and without IBM. > - Microsoft had a non-exclusive deal with IBM and therefor was allowed > to sell it to whomever they wanted, including directly as MS-DOS. Stories vary widely but the most prevalent can be seen at https://youtu.be/Qc5khH5gllg?t=339 which I positioned around the relevant time. The story goes that MS-DOS did not exist at that time and IBM could have required exclusive rights but instead intentionally gave up it's exclusive rights to MS-DOS for $0 during negotiations. On Saturday, August 12, 2023 at 05:54:10 PM PDT, Grant Taylor <0000023065957af1-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> wrote: On 8/7/23 12:26 PM, Jon Perryman wrote: > Was it a smart decision for IBM to sell the software that became > Microsoft? Please clarify what IBM sold to Microsoft. My understanding is that Microsoft, an existing but small company, came to IBM and said "here, we have an operating system for the IBM PC that you are developing, would you like to license copies from us for each unit that you sell?". Specifically: - Microsoft had (MS-)DOS independent of and without IBM. - Microsoft had a non-exclusive deal with IBM and therefor was allowed to sell it to whomever they wanted, including directly as MS-DOS. Given your following statement, I doubt that you are referring to OS/2 in your previous statement. > How about creating OS/2 a few years later to fill the void they sold? My understanding was that IBM and Microsoft co-developed OS/2 ostensibly as a DOS successor. One of the partners decided to end the partnership. I'm not aware of Microsoft purchasing any rights from IBM at the time as Microsoft went on to develop Windows NT partially based on OS/2. IBM went on to develop and enhance OS/2. So I ask again, please clarify what did IBM sell to Microsoft in the context of this thread. Grant. . . . ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
