Re: Platform of choice (very long) or, I Hate Holy Wars

[Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- AXIONET -dot- COM>]

Stephen Arrants <arrants -at- BRIGHTWARE -dot- COM> wrote

>What evidence do you have that Microsoft products "lag bacly in technological terms (and horribly in usability and human factors aspects!)"?

I'm sure that other people can come up with other examples, but here's
some of the ways that Microsoft products have lagged--and are
lagging--behind OS/2:

1.) OS/2 was 32 bit two years before Windows 95.

2.) OS/2 used the right mouse button for object properties several years
before Windows 95.

3.) Tabbed windows were standard in OS/2 for at least two years before
they become standard in Windows with 95. Before that, only a handful of
Windows programs had this handy feature.

4.) OS/2 was multi-tasking several years before Windows, and still
multi-tasks more reliably.

5.) OS/2's desktop is object-oriented, while Windows 95's is "object
enhanced"--meaning it imitates object-orientation, but isn't OO really.

6.) OS/2 can fine-tune the running of Windows and DOS programs far more
than any version of Windows can.

7.) OS/2 is more crash-proof: when a program fails, it doesn't bring the
system down. Even a GPF in a Windows program just closes that program
and leaves you at the desktop.

8.) OS/2 4.0 supports voice type dictation. It's promised for the next
release of Windows.

9.) OS/2 has full Java support--it can run Java programs like any other
program,

This list isn't complete, but you get the idea. And no doubt others
could make similar lists for Macs and UNIX.

Some people would argue that it doesn't matter what operating system
you're running so much as what tools you're using. While that's true to
some extent, I would far rather use, say, MS Word or FrameMaker in OS/2,
because all its features save time. I appreciate not having to reboot
for a GPF, or being able to format a floppy and continue working on a
large document without any loss of speed.

Windows is improving, and Windows 95 is a huge step ahead of Windows
3.1. But Windows is still far behind other operating systems in terms of
features and usability.

And, by the way, I'd like to mention that this is one of the most
civilized conversations about operating systems that I've seen on the
net. Maybe the reason is that the people on the list aren't just
hobbyists, but have a practical interest?

--
Bruce Byfield (bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com)
Technical Writer
Burnaby, BC, Canada
(604) 421-7189

"All saints revile her, and all sober men
Ruled by the God Apollo's golden mean--
In scorn of which we sailed to find her."
In distant regions likeliest to hold her
Whom we desired above all things to know,
Sister of the mirage and echo."
==Robert Graves

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