Operating System Wars are they over? They should be.  I just seem to attract angry PC users who, once they have found out I'm a Macuser, [not hard really] start whining on about how great Windows 95/98 is. And Macs are the reason why the DOJ are on Microsoft's case eh? I thought the DOJ were on M$ case because of their predatory monopolistic business practices. Anyone wanting to enter the online war of words has the unenviable task of convincing the other side that their chosen OS is better. Apple, Linux, Microsoft, Sun, BeOS, they are all different and indifferent systems in their own way, distinct from each other with their own obvious advantages. We have all tried at least once to convince someone of the Wintel persuasion that our MacOS is better [oh the memories of the hours spent online going blue in the face slamming my head on a keyboard at 2am in the morning]. You can split hairs [and a bit more!] about who's taken what from which Graphical User Interface [GUI]. You'll be surprised at the things people can come out with when they're on the ropes. The Mac OS was on the block long before Windows was remotely useful. Yes the Mac GUI running on the first Lisa machines had a lot in common, borrowed and stolen from what the Xerox PARC [Palo Alto Research Center] labs were doing at the time back in the late 70's early 80's. The ill fated Apple Lisa was the introduction in many ways for the first Macs. The first IBM machines around at the time were lumps full of a:/find my work/wyefuk/notworthit - command lines and Microsoft was just a little baby back then too. IBM MADE Microsoft what it is today by giving it the break. The Lisa was released in 1983 powered by a Motorola 68000 Processor running at just 5 Mhz, an internal 5 MB hard drive, and a built in 12" monochrome monitor. But as I have said before in past issues, Apple implemented the GUI better and developed it into what it is today, Xerox could never have achieved that. Don't listen to Wintel fans trying the same trick on the other foot. Windows X is not an Advancement of the Mac GUI but a copy in so many ways of the MacOS. Mr Gates said as much once. "…to be truly innovative you have to look at the Macintosh" - Bill Gates or "If you want to make enemies, try to change something." Woodrow Wilson, (1916) But hey, at the end of the day Apple makes it's own OS for its own machines. IBM, HP, Dell, etc make computers. Microsoft makes an OS, Apple does both. On behalf of the 1984 team, enjoy this festive issue. It is yet again full of the good stuff. Thank you for downloading - all the best. Darren Edwards Editor 1984 OnLine Magazine