Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
copycat?!....Gates sets the record straight - MS vs. Apple....who copied whom.....???
#1
.......says they both copied Xerox......Apple didn't copy MS and MS didn't copy Apple....



Bill Gates just solved the very first Apple vs. Microsoft fanboy debate

.....Back before iOS and Android were even a glimmer in anyone’s eye, there was another fanboy rivalry that, at times, was even more heated than the bizarre debates over smartphone allegiance we see today. It’s crazy to think that any fanboy arguments could be more intense than the clashes seen all over the web between Android addicts and iPhone lovers, but it’s true. Apple and Microsoft each played a key role in the proliferation of personal computers, and both brands formed very loyal fan bases that constantly bickered about which company was superior. They argued over nearly every topic you can imagine, but the very first Apple vs. Microsoft fanboy debate focused on one question in particular: When it comes to the companies’ very first graphical user interfaces, who copied whom?

Well, after decades of back and forth, we finally have an answer — and it comes straight from the horse’s mouth.

On Monday, Microsoft cofounder, renowned philanthropist and all-around awesome guy Bill Gates conducted his fifth “Ask Me Anything” session on Reddit, where he has become something of a hero. For those somehow unaware of Reddit’s popular AMA series, these threads are conducted by a person or group, typically in the public eye, and they encourage users on the site to ask any questions they want.

Gates’s fifth AMA was wildly popular, of course, and more than 17,000 comments were ultimately posted in the thread. We could spend weeks talking about all of the great answers Gates provided, but one was of particular interest in the context of this site. Reddit user HalesOwnShrek asked this brief question: “Did you copy Steve Jobs or did he copy you?” The question was brief indeed, but it’s based on decades of back and forth between Apple and Microsoft fans.

Gates took the time to respond, and his response puts an end to the debate once and for all.

“The main ‘copying’ that went on relative to Steve and me is that we both benefited from the work that Xerox Parc did in creating graphical interface – it wasn’t just them but they did the best work,” Gates wrote on Reddit. “Steve hired Bob Belville, I hired Charles Simonyi. We didn’t violate any IP rights Xerox had but their work showed the way that led to the Mac and Windows.”

So there you have it, fanboys. The debate is over. When it comes to the companies’ original GUIs, Microsoft didn’t copy Apple and Apple didn’t copy Microsoft. They both copied Xerox.



is this the real answer or just PR.............?!
_____________________________________
I reject your reality and substitute my own!
Reply
#2
Pretty much anyone who was around back then sort of knew this. Heck, I remember working with a GUI and a mouse in '83 on a Mentor Graphics workstation with a huuge monitor. That was programmed in .... PASCAL. And had separate windows. And concurrent processes. The idea ! I could write code in one window, compile in another window, and RUN the code in a third window. It was amazing ! And such a pretty B&W user interface, with shading and good fonts, and even a word processor with GUI controls.
Reply
#3
NewtonMP2100 wrote:
.......says they both copied Xerox......Apple didn't copy MS and MS didn't copy Apple....



Bill Gates just solved the very first Apple vs. Microsoft fanboy debate

...... I hired Charles Simonyi. .


http://www.superyachtfan.com/superyacht/..._skat.html
Reply
#4
Sure is a nice retcon by Gates. Yes Apple got GUI ideas from Xerox after a visit to their labs. Xerox got preferred stock in exchange. But Gates has ignored his and MS's path to those GUI elements, they copied them direct from Apple's OS source code, and never paid anything to Xerox.

The first version of Windows had entire program modules directly lifted from Apple's code, that was shown in court filings. The main reason the judge dismissed one of the early infringement cases was that he declared it moot as MS had removed the offending code from version 2. Complicating matters was that Jobs had handed over the code to Gates and MS on little more than a handshake deal, something Jobs later expressed some regret as MS made claims their usage was allowed.
Reply
#5
Yeah... My respect level for Bill had been going up since he left MS, but this knocks it back down.

This is a little revisionist, and one of the two primary parties isn't around to refute it.

Is this what they mean when they say the winners write the history?
By virtue of not getting a horrible disease, Bill gets to spin things differently?
Reply
#6
This is no "solution;" it's PR from one of the horse's mouths. Unfortunately, the other horse is dead.

NewtonMP2100 wrote: When it comes to the companies’ very first graphical user interfaces, who copied whom?…“The main ‘copying’ that went on relative to Steve and me is that we both benefited from the work that Xerox Parc did in creating graphical interface…their work showed the way that led to the Mac and Windows.”

The second part of Gates's response is true but the first part is misleading. Windows was a weak attempt to simulate System with a GUI-like interface. System came first, almost two years before the widely derided Windows 1.0.

Microsoft didn’t copy Apple and Apple didn’t copy Microsoft. They both copied Xerox.

How stupid.
Reply
#7
Article Accelerator wrote:
This is no "solution;" it's PR from one of the horse's mouths. Unfortunately, the other horse is dead.

And I for one would like to beat that dead horse for allowing Pony Ive to stick around emaciating the Mac to the brink of death...
Reply
#8
max wrote:
[quote=NewtonMP2100]
.......says they both copied Xerox......Apple didn't copy MS and MS didn't copy Apple....



Bill Gates just solved the very first Apple vs. Microsoft fanboy debate

...... I hired Charles Simonyi. .


http://www.superyachtfan.com/superyacht/..._skat.html
Neat.

"Simonyi’s passion for science and for space has led him to travel into space twice aboard Soyuz spacecraft, becoming the fifth space tourist and the first ever tourist to fly twice."
Reply
#9
mikebw wrote:
"Simonyi’s passion for science and for space has led him to travel into space twice aboard Soyuz spacecraft, becoming the fifth space tourist and the first ever tourist to fly twice."

Perhaps he will be one of Elon Musk's space tourists around the moon? He's got the money for it.
Reply
#10
gabester wrote:
[quote=Article Accelerator]
This is no "solution;" it's PR from one of the horse's mouths. Unfortunately, the other horse is dead.

And I for one would like to beat that dead horse for allowing Pony Ive to stick around emaciating the Mac to the brink of death...
Whoa.....easy there, fella.........easy..........take a cool-down lap...........
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)