On Sun, 11 Nov 2001, Geoff Reed wrote:
> At 10:26 AM 11/11/01 -0500, you wrote:
> >On November 11, Richard.Sandwell_at_roebry.co.uk wrote:
> > > I have an Apricot Xen 'mainframe' which is a 286 based msdos generic from
> > > 1986. Its not ibm compatible. Comically, it does have a copy of Windows V1
> > > on its disk which runs, well, like all versions of windows ;-)
> > > Its role was a fileserver for an ms-net network, hence the awful
> > > 'mainframe' name. I've always been intrigued that there was a port of
> > > xenix available for this machine - anyone know anything about that, or
> > > about xenix on a 286 based system in general?
>
> Remember, Xenix was originally a Microsoft product, they then sold it off
> to SCO (for a % ownership in SCO)
>
Actually Xenix was never a Microsoft branded product. It was Microsoft's
but they only sold Xenix as OEM'd versions to vendors like SCO and lots
of HW vendors who then added they modifications to support their specific
products (like Apricot, whose machines were far from plain PCs).
There were several Xenix versions (none of which had the Microsoft brand).
I think later M$ got some kind of stake on SCO.
Then again Xenix was the clear proof that M$ can not even compy a great OS
correctly. I remember using a version of Xenix that only allowed 8.3
naming of files (like M$-DOS)! Typical M$ "innovation"... pheb!
Speaking of M$, I was reading the other day a keynote speech by BillyBoy
in which he claimed that DOS got such a widespread use because they
contributed with an open architecture, the PC. As far as I know the PC was
not open at all (i.e. the BIOS, etc), and most importantly the PC was not
their architecture! The key components of what made a PC a PCE were
supposed to be propietary, and most of the early clones that used DOS had
copied BIOSs which were theoretically illegal. So basically BillyBoy was
admiting that his empire was based on the encouragement of piracy by their
OEM clients of IBM's IP. Interesting, eh?
_______________________________________________________________________
Francisco J. MesaMartinez
http://www.cse.ucsc.edu/~javi
_______________________________________________________________________
Basking Engineering Ctr #228 email:javi_at_cse.ucsc.edu
University of California
Santa Cruz, CA 95064 phone:(831) 502-2073
_______________________________________________________________________
Received on Sun Nov 11 2001 - 15:32:16 GMT