Behind the scenes with Windows 7

Monday 20th April, 07:08 AM JST

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goodDonkey at 06:08 PM JST - 21st April

jackseoul said:

Bill Gates didn't bail out Apple!!! Apple sued Billy-boy for stealing Apple's GUI, which Apple paid MS for developing. The real thief is Gates! Apple laid out a clear and concise Gui which MS thought was a great idea. I believe MS paid $150,000,000 or so under pretense that it was for development. MS also threatened that it would immediately cease development for Word for Mac if Apple won it's case. No more lies!!

You need to get your facts straight.

First I will prove that Bill Gates invested in Apple Inc. exactly like I said. In the link that follows you will find the following statement:

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said today As the Macworld turns that the software giant will invest $150 million in Apple and will develop and ship future versions of its Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, and development tools for the Macintosh.

http://news.cnet.com/MS-to-invest-150-million-in-Apple/2100-1001_3-202143.html

The exact language of the stock purchase can be found at the following law website (Findlaw for Professionals): http://contracts.corporate.findlaw.com/agreements/apple/microsoft.1997.08.05.html

The title is PREFERRED STOCK PURCHASE AGREEMENT

DATED AS OF AUGUST 5, 1997

{By the way it just happens to be the $150 million you mentioned)

Yes, Bill gates was sued (Actually Microsoft). Apple Inc. lost the lawsuit to Microsoft and the Supreme Court refused to hear the case on appeal. The case you referred to is "Apple Computer Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation", 35 F.3d 1435 (9th Cir. 1994).

The case can be reviewed at:

http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F3/35/35.F3d.1435.93-16883.93-16869.93-16867.html

or

http://www.precydent.com/citation/35/F.3d/1435

Wikipedia also details the results of the case as follows:

Apple lost all claims in the lawsuit, except that the court ruled that the "trash can" icon and file folder icons from Hewlett-Packard's now-forgotten NewWave windows application were infringing. The lawsuit was filed in 1988 and lasted four years; the decision was affirmed on appeal in 1994, [1] and Apple's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was denied.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applev.Microsoft

The only thing Apple won was that HP infringed by using their trash can icon.

Apple Inc. was still losing in the Supreme Court in 2007 in an unrelated case.

http://news.cnet.com/2100-1014_3-6180188.html

It is a plain fact that I did not tell any lies.
earthcreature at 07:56 PM JST - 21st April

I don't know why so many people hate vista... I had it sense day 1 :) and it has been a blast!! I also had XP from day 1 and it also was a blast to use!! The only thing I don't like is that MSFT is cutting Vista lifespan soo fast!! :( But if people aren't happy then back to the drawing boards it is. Either way I love technology and I will try Windows 7, and if I like it I will buy it... If I don't like it... Then I will get back to my Vista :)... I just hope technology goes forward and not backwards...
Nessie at 08:28 PM JST - 21st April

Behind the scenes? More like "behind the blue screens of death."
Nessie at 08:30 PM JST - 21st April

Thanks, Donkey
elbudamexicano at 10:22 PM JST - 21st April

Have fun with your bloody Windows 7 that will surely be obsolete in a few months! It is all a rip off! Just like that Vista crap!
mikihouse at 11:05 PM JST - 21st April

Been using windows 7 for the last 4 months and I say I will not be going back to XP...well not even when I migrated to Vista. For all the nerds who wants to talk about computers and for all the people who wants to look cool, I don't care. I want to use my PC to be productive, be able to edit some files, record, watch and that without too much learning curve. I don't speak the language of geeks nor follow the cult of the "cools". I use my PC and I am glad there is windows.
Badsey at 11:27 PM JST - 21st April

Whoever said Windows is the dominant server environment clearly isn't into computers. It has been Unix/Linux(with a few Macs) for almost a decade. -and that includes all the big universities.

It's all mobile now. Mobile laptops, iPhone etc. The PC era is coming to an end.

Microsoft has a new blue screen of death saver -just kidding that has always been the Ctrl-Alt-Del.
Badsey at 11:49 PM JST - 21st April

if you go back to 1985-1986 MS Excel/Word/Works were big Mac sellers and Microserf probably made more money selling those (to Mac users) than they did selling MS-Dos products.

Because of the Microsoft agreement with Apple, Apple lost the "look and feel" patent case (a weak case anyway since Apple copied Xerox-Parc designs anyway).. But now you have design patents (VW New Beetle etc). The agreement Apple made with Microsoft allowed MS to basically use whatever Apple had as their own --> a very dumb agreement, but it gave MS-Dos users a very nice OS eventually (Windows).
LFRAgain at 12:41 PM JST - 22nd April

elbudamexicano - "There are some hard core computer geeks here. Who the hell cares about Windows 7???"

Well, as it seems you've read the geeky article as well as our geeky posts, it would seem YOU care. ;-)
jackseoul at 01:03 PM JST - 22nd April

GoodDonkey,

You only choose to quote only a portion of the truth. After the GUI lawsuit Gates invested in Apple! Why, when MS was looking at Apple from 6 feet up? Go to your archives and pull out a couple of pages from tech resources as well as the dailies – you gain perspective on the day to day arguments and the side agreements made by Gates (MS) at the time. Most of the issue between Apple and MS were solved out of court, including the $150000000 question. Half truths are just as much of a lie.
goodDonkey at 03:18 PM JST - 22nd April

jackseoul Said:

Go to your archives and pull out a couple of pages from tech resources as well as the dailies – you gain perspective on the day to day arguments and the side agreements made by Gates (MS) at the time. Most of the issue between Apple and MS were solved out of court, including the $150000000 question.

Why don't you do that and get back to us. You won't do it because you can't do it. I used court records to prove I was telling the truth. You are pathetic.

If you had proof you would provide it. Isn't it a Pity?
paultaut at 04:08 PM JST - 22nd April

Apple Sued Microsoft and LOST. Windows and all it incarnations is the Result. My biggest irritation with Microsoft's program development is its inability to provide a clean operating system. Eventually there will be a Trillion lines of code with Windows 13 incorporating parts of all of its previous forms. Why can't an operating system be like a Video Game, Starcraft for instance. All of the bells and whistles can be Mods and can be tabbed as needed instead of being force fed whether you want it or not. I'm tired of being treated like a simpleton.
LFRAgain at 09:32 AM JST - 23rd April

Meanwhile, back at the ranch... iBotnet comes home for dinner.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/22/first.mac.botnet/index.html
jonnyboy at 10:00 AM JST - 23rd April

I'll consider a Mac as soon as they become competitively priced with similarly equipped PC's. Till then, the Apple premium isn't really worth it to me.

you get what you pay for. the computer market seems to be the only one in the world where people forget the fact that cheap has negative as well as positive connotations. a product purchased is not a "bargain" if it does not perform well enough to justify the money saved. but the pc market has people forgetting that companies will always have to cut corners in order to achieve cheaper prices than their competitors
LFRAgain at 01:04 PM JST - 23rd April

companies will always have to cut corners in order to achieve cheaper prices than their competitors

Very true, but the PC market is also a good example of how those price cuts eventually level out to an industry standard, like the price of flash memory, for example. Prices will eventually hit bottom, but rise again to a level that reflects actual market values.

Also figuring into the equation is the natural decline in parts prices once the bugs have been worked out of the manufacturing process and been streamlined.

Honestly, there aren't any costs involved in building a Mac that are significantly higher than for making PCs. Intel chips are still Intel chips. Hard drives are still hard drives. Monitors are still just monitors. Apple having had years to prefect and streamline the manufacture of its computers, seems reluctant to pass the resultant savings on to its customers. And it's losing out as a result, relegating itself to the limited income that comes from a largely cult following.