Dear Right-Wing Extremists,

@ArishMell No I use open-source software exclusively. (On my Mac, of course... 😏)

@helenS Fair enough! I would use alternatives to MS too but I don't know enough about manipulating operating-systems etc. to risk changing.

@MarmeeMarch Thank you explaining that.

Do you know MS how started or acquired the 'Windows' concept, at all? I think it was an IBM invention, before Microsoft.

Sun Microsystems had a version, stripped-down to free processing-power for use, but so reduced that the system I saw, around the time of WIN 5, also relied heavily on command-line operation.

@ArishMell The GUI concept (clicking on screen objects by using a mouse) was developed at XEROX parc, licensed &developed into the desktop metaphor by Apple and then stolen by MS.

@helenS

Neeeeerd!

@helenS "Stolen"? That is a strong allegation but MS doing that would not surprise me. Its primary motive all along is to create for itself a commercial world monopoly on all but the most specialised independent systems - one result though not intended, being making life easy for professional hackers.

@ArishMell Of course, Redmond did not steal the source code, just the concept of a virtual desktop. As an example, people unlink a file by dragging it visually into a paper basket. All those old school commands such as cp, mv, rm etc. are replaced by virtualization of real-world activities. And that was Apple's idea.

@MarmeeMarch Ah, hit by the old story ....

So many companies have failed to think far enough ahead, or to understand what they have found or can see happening. So have thrown away golden opportunities for massive future trade, or even failed to see what would simply keep them trading.

@ArishMell [b]Kodak[/b] and [b]digital photography[/b] come to mind.
In 1975, a 24-year-old engineer named [i]Steven Sasson[/i] invented digital photography while working at Eastman Kodak by creating the world’s [i]first digital camera.[/i] Sasson showed the new technology to a number of Kodak executives, but they couldn’t see the potential of what digital photography could become. This was their reaction, as told by Sasson to the New York Times:
"[i]They were convinced that no one would ever want to look at their pictures on a television set. Print had been with us for over 100 years, no one was complaining about prints, they were very inexpensive, and so why would anyone want to look at their picture on a television set?[/i]"
At the time, Kodak was the dominant brand in the US photo industry, and Kodak didn’t want to cannibalize its film businesses.
Eastman Kodak filed for bankruptcy in 2012. 😏

@helenS Interesting example, but I think to be fair to Kodak's directors of the time the ability to show digital photographs in their full glory was probably far behind the ability to take them.

I wonder if their mistake was in not talking to the computer, TV and software developers to see what could become possible within the life of a patent.

@ArishMell I think the problem is that some see new developments as a threat, not as an opportunity.
Steve Jobs (R.I.P.) was different - when he saw something new, he thought: "Hey, that's new, now what can I do with it?"

@helenS A good point, certainly in some cases.