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From: berger@clio.las.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: GATHER and say NO to MCA!
Message-ID: <16800312@clio>
Date: 27 Jun 88 20:24:00 GMT
References: <42900016@uicsrd.csrd.uiuc.edu>
Lines: 22
Nf-ID: #R:uicsrd.csrd.uiuc.edu:42900016:clio:16800312:000:1035
Nf-From: clio.las.uiuc.edu!berger    Jun 27 15:24:00 1988


I'm amazed to see somebody try to make a case for AVOIDING standards in
this day and age.  The worst problem with the original PC architecture
was that IBM's extraordinarily slow implementation of basic ms-dos
features forced software writers to put hardware-specific code into
their programs.  This turned all the superior low-cost competitors to
the PC into orphans and doomed them to a premature death.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of PC type software on the market still
carries large amounts of hardware-specific code, necessitating hardware-
compatible clones.  The taiwanese manufacturers are capable these days of
engineering a functional competitor for the PS-2 line, but how will they
convince all the software publishers to make generic versions of the
programs they've been selling with hardware-specific code for 5 or more
years?

			Mike Berger
			Department of Statistics 
			Science, Technology, and Society
			University of Illinois 

			berger@clio.las.uiuc.edu
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