[Divingdw]

Here is an interesting article I found while at work:

"MICROSOFT CORP. FINALLY UNVEILS ``WINDOWS''

Bellevue's Microsoft Corp. has launched its much-delayed Windows software for microcomputers, a product aimed at bringing modern graphics and compatibility to computer software.

When it was announced late in 1983, Windows was seen as an extremely important new product for Microsoft and for the computer industry.

But since then:

Windows has been delayed more than a year past its first promised delivery date, May 1984;

Two competing products have been launched by two major players in the small-computer business: International Business Machines and Digital Research Inc.

The Windows delay - necessary to purge technical problems - has been an embarrassment for Microsoft, which shipped its final version last week without fanfare.

``They certainly pounded their chest a little too soon,'' said Jan Lewis, a former Microsoft employee who now is senior analyst at InfoCorp, a market-research firm in Cupertino, Calif. She says Windows could have dominated its field if it had been ready when first promised. ``But now they will be one of several'' competing products.

Windows, like IBM's TopView and Digital Research's Gem, is called an operating environment. It's designed to be sandwiched between a computer's internal operating system and an external applications program such as a word processor or number-crunching spreadsheet.

The idea is to make software easier to use and at the same time offer more power and functions for experienced users. Windows also lets software developers write a single version of a program to work on any computer that uses Windows. In addition, the Windows environment enhances a computer's graphics capabilities and lets a user move information easily and quickly between applications. Without Windows, that task would require storing and retrieving files and programs.

Microsoft spokesman Marty Taucher says a preliminary version of Windows has been in the hands of some software developers for months. ``We've completed the work now,'' he said, and the final version of the program was sent to hardware manufacturers and software vendors last Friday.

Windows is an extension of MS-DOS, the Microsoft disk operating system used in most IBM personal computers.

Initial shipments of Windows are being made to hardware and software companies, some of which may ``bundle'' it with their products, Taucher said.

Though TopView and Gem beat Windows to the market, Taucher said Windows combines graphics lacked by TopView and multi-task capability that's lacking in Gem.

Lewis of InfoCorp says TopView, despite its IBM brand name, has not been very well accepted. Last month, the respected computer weekly InfoWorld reviewed TopView and said in a headline that it was ``in no shape for the average user.''

George Grayson, president of Micrographics Corp. of Richardson, Tex., says Windows is ``far superior'' to Gem and TopView.

Ironically, all three products are aimed at increasing the compatibility of hardware and software, yet the three are incompatible with one another.

Furthermore, they have led to confusion and uncertainty among software developers. And those software developers are crucial to the success of the three new ``environments,'' which will be of marginal benefit without software designed to use their strengths.

Robert Simon, vice president of T aker Graphics, a software company in Mountain View, Calif., said his company, which makes five programs for the Apple Macintosh computer, is modifying those programs to work on IBM computers using Windows and Gem.

``Even though Microsoft Windows has suffered a significant delay, we expect Windows to prevail'' over Gem and TopView because of Microsoft's reputation and marketing clout, Simon said.

Within the computer industry, Windows is now ``released,'' much to Microsoft's relief. But computer owners won't be able to start using it before fall, since it will take software companies several months to produce programs that use it.

Taucher said Microsoft plans to make a version of Windows to be sold through retail outlets, but he did not know when that would be available, nor its price."

----------------------------------------------
I bet Jan lewis is feeling pretty stupid now for assuming Microsoft will have to compete.