Apple Reference & Presen…rary 8 (Internal Edition)/Apple R&P Lib Internal v8.0.iso/3-Presentations/Apple Computer Inc./Industry Competition/ROMs/Software/Windows Quotes 6⁄90

Text File | 1990-06-24 | 14.3 KB | 310 lines | [TEXT/GEOL]

Apple Confidential / Need to Know


Here are some third-party quotes about Windows.  Use them in good health.


MINIMUM HARDWARE

The Fastie Report
5/31/90
    “Windows will not redeem itself well on anything less than a 12MHz 286, so
8088 or 8086 systems are out of the question.  The entry-level Windows machine
is one based on the 386SX at 16MHz.”

PC Week, Jim Seymour
5/22/90
"Forget the stories that Windows demands much less sophisticated hardware than
OS/2 Presentation Manager.  Windows 3.0 wants a VGA or better display driven by
a fast video board, a mouse, a 386SX or better CPU, and at least four megs of
memory."

William Zachmann, PC Week
4/30/90
"A 1M- or 2M-byte 286 system is no more able to truly take advantage of Windows
3.0 than it is to truly take advantage of OS/2.  To really make use of the
capabilities of Windows 3.0, you will want to have a 386-based system with a
large (more than 100M bytes) disk and 4M bytes or more of memory.   In other
words, you will want to have a system that is also capable of running OS/2."

Baltimore Sun
5/29/90
“GUI's take a  lot of horsepower.  The Apple Macintosh, which popularized the
GUI and turned Mac users into Mac devotees, was designed from the ground up as
a graphics-based computer.  All the routines programmers need to create
windows, boxes, menus, screen fonts and other goodies are built into the
computer's read-only memory.
     “On the other hand, IBM-compatibles are basically character-oriented.
While they have the ability to produce graphics, you have to load in a ton of
software to make them draw pretty pictures.  This eats up microprocessor power
and memory in a big way."



MACINTOSH VS. WINDOWS

Stewart Alsop, PC Letter
5/6/90
"Windows is still, in large part, an incredibly mixed metaphor and therefore is
harder to figure out than the Macintosh."
"Windows 3.0 is not a whole lot easier to use than Windows 2.0 and the
improvement in usability is debatable."
"The notion that the arrival of Windows 3.0 somehow removes Apple's competitive
position entirely is fairly preposterous."

Technologic Computer Letter
4/23/90
"Putting a pretty face on a PC doesn't make it a Mac.  It makes it a PC in
disguise."
"Windows 3...won't make PCs as easy to set up or connect to printers or
networks as a Macintosh."
"Underneath all the fine dress of Windows, users still must deal with DOS and
its awkward file conventions and memory restrictions, but we don't expect
Microsoft to talk about that in its advertising."
"The Macintosh is not only easier to use, it's easier to get working....Anyone
who has to do his own installations and setups will have to be concerned with
incredibly tedious details, such as DIP switches and mode settings.  Not to
mention memory configurations and interface card driver configurations and
AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files."

Gartner Group PC Computing Service, Jonathan Yarmis
4/17/90
"Mac System 7 is a superior and more strategic platform than Windows 3....Apple
retains a significant advantage over a Windows platform in numbers of
applications and advanced functionality, which is what we believe users are
seeking."

Time Magazine
6/4/90
"For a business that relies so heavily on memory chips, the computer industry
is surprisingly forgetful.  That trait was on display last week in the hoopla
over the unveiling of Microsoft Windows 3.0, a $149 program that its maker
claims will give IBM-compatible computers the look and feel of a user-friendly
Apple Macintosh.  What most everyone failed to recall, however, was that
Microsoft has been making the same claim about earlier versions of Windows for
the past seven years."

Bear Stearns (Andrew Neff)
5/18/90
"We don't believe that the inclusion of Windows 3.0 will make the MS-DOS
environment easy to use. "
"What will Apple's edge be after Windows 3.0 is announced on May 22?
Essentially, there are three advantages:
• Apple's products come with its interface installed, while Windows has to be
added later—not unlike the difference between buying a house with a new kitchen
or redoing the kitchen in your current house; the first alternative is
certainly less stressful
• Almost all Macintosh applications work the same way, while there is still a
great deal of inviduality in DOS programs.
• Apple's approach requires less memory than Windows, meaning tht it could be
a lower cost alternative."

PC Week
5/22/90
"As for price/performance, many note that comparisons are misleading if based
on hardware alone.  For overall GUI performance, a bottom-end Macintosh Plus
has traditionally rivaled a 286 or even a slow 386 running either Windows or
the OS/2 Presentation Manager.  Users contend that this makes Macintosh
price/performance more competitive than it appears."

MicroTimes
4/16/90
"Apple has...gained respect from many corporations who feel that they are much
better able to predict how system software changes on the Mac will affect their
work than similar changes on the PC."

Michael Slater, Microprocessor Report
4/4/90
     "Apple's Macintosh is a superior personal computer.  Nothing else
available today matches the Mac's ease of use, the range of powerful
applications, or the smooth integration of a variety of displays with other
peripherals....
     "Anyone in an office with more than two Macs is immediately aware of the
benefits of the built-in (if anemic) network interface.  And there are numerous
other advantages of the Mac that are often taken for granted by those who have
not spent much time with other computers.  Features like the ability to use
multiple displays as part of one integrated desktop; the way virtually any
application can run on a display of any size; or the universal support for the
Scrapbook, which allows cutting and pasting of graphics between applications."
     "The Mac has benefitted from the early choice of the 68000 architecture,
which has allowed a smooth migration path to a full 32-bit system.  The
careful, layered design of the system software has enabled Apple to modify
their hardware designs with a minimal effect on application software.  Apple
also has an admirable record of recognizing emerging technologies and
application areas, including desktop publishing, multimedia, and the SCSI
interface.
     "In contrast, the world of IBM-compatible PCs is a mess.  The standard
operating system, DOS, is character-based, and is little more than a standard
set of file-handling functions.  Many applications are character-based as well.
Those applications that are graphics based are inconsistent and incompatible.
Many run under Windows, but some of the most important--such as Ventura
Publisher, which incidentally, is used to produce this newsletter--run under
GEM.  Someday soon (we hope), Microsoft will manage to release Windows 3.0,
Ventura will be available in a WIndows version, and Windows will be our primary
environment for a while.  But next year, OS/2 2.0 will arrive, along with new
versions of all our favorite applications, and we will undergo another major
transition."

PC Letter
2/18/90
"On the Macintosh (as well as on NeXT and Sun Open Look), the hardware vendor
has taken virtually complete responsibility for this issue by aggressively
evangelizing user interface standards.  On DOS and even on Windows and
Presentation Manager, no one is really certain just who is responsible.  And
that leads to a situation such as with Lotus, where the applications developer
is trying to create a user-interface superset as a competitive advantage,
almost in direct opposition to the fundamental idea of a standard interface."

Gartner Group PC Scenario
10/30/89
“Apple will likely continue its lead for at least two more years, and System
7.0 will probably extend that lead well into the 1990s.”

Planning & Managing PC Environments, Gartner Group
10/89
"Apple Macintosh has succeeded in cracking the DOS PC standard in many
corporations...Apple has achieved Macintosh critical mass, and continues to
gain share despite the advent of OS/2....Apple will regain and maintain its
advantage for at least the next two years....We believe that Apple's technology
is on track and that its products will continue, in many ways, to lead the PC
industry."
     "We expect Apple...to continue to prosper as the second-largest personal
computer vendor.  Apple will remain as the only viable alternative to the IBM
standard."
     "Macintosh is the hands-down winner in ease of use."
     "Apple's absolute control of its operating system gives it an opportunity
to be enormously responsive to the requirements of the software market."
     "Apple currently has the most robust solution with the greatest number of
applications available and the most common interface.  It has a significant
lead in terms of integrating applications."



LIMITATIONS OF WINDOWS

The Fastie Report
5/31/90
“OS/2 is an operating system.  Unix is an operating system.  VMS, VMS, and AOS
are operating systems.  Windows is a user interface grafted onto something that
is called an operating system but is really just a file manager and program
launcher.  Sitting in between Windos and DOS is a kernel of code that provides
memory management, mulit-tasking, and inter-task communications.  there's a
reason it took Microsoft so long to get Windows to version 3.0:  it's tricky.
the Windows 3.0 box contains the subtitle "Graphical Environment;" I give
Microsoft high marks for admitting this.  You must keep this in mind.  There
are dozens of tasks for which the Windows/DOS combination is simply not
suitable, like running a server or handling transaction processing or managing
requirements for security or integrity.  These are tasks only a real operating
system can perform.”



WINDOWS USERS

InfoWorld
1/29/90
"Microsoft officials say the company has shipped 3 million copies of Windows
over the years.  However, analysts contend that Microsoft bundled many of those
copies with PCs as part of deals with hardware makers, and the software has
never been used.  There are 200,000 registered Windows users."
     "Sales of Windows through computer specialty retail stores were lower at
the end of 1989 than they were at the beginning of the year...In November 1989,
the last month for which StoreBoard has sales figures, about 2,600 copies of
Windows were sold in computer stores, compared with more than 4,400 copies in
January 1989."  (StoreBoard is a leading sales-tracking company).
     "People are talking about Windows as the best thing since sliced bread,
but it's not selling that well and its market penetration is not that great."
--Nancy McSharry, International Data Corp.

David Cearley, Gartner Group, in PC Week
5/14/90
"Between 25 percent and 35 percent of the users who so far have received
Windows free from system vendors actually use it."

PC Week, Jim Seymour
5/22/90
"I think that the real number of Windows users...is under 50,000."
"...we still don't have a suite of solid Windows apps.  There isn't even a good
let alone great Windows DBMS, for example."

San Jose Mercury News, Lee Gomes
5/21/90
“Several factors may auger for a less enthusiastic marketplace reponse than
Microsoft might like.  For example, getting maximum perofrmance from Windows
will require a high-powered 80386 microprocessor and as much as 4 megabytes of
memory, more than many users have.  In addition, users will need to buy new
software to take full advantage of the program.”



WINDOWS FUTURES

IBM Personal Systems Developer magazine, Winter 1990
2/1/90
“Developers of Windows applications should clearly be targeting users who are
not demanding of features and performance.  Windows applications in the
business market run the risk of being developed on a platform that does not
allow them to compete in the high end of the market.”  Bob Tabke, Dataquest

IBM Press Release
11/15/89
   -  “To reaffirm this [OS/2 as the platform of the 90s], the companies
indicated the majority of their application and systems development resources
will be applied to OS/2 solutions.  Beginning in the second half of 1990, IBM
and Microsoft plan to make their graphical applications available first on
OS/2.”
   -  Windows “enables limited multi-application support”
   -  “While Windows will provide the Systems Application Architecture (SAA) user
interface, it is not planned ot include the full range of SAA support that OS/2
will provide.”
   -  “Microsoft stated that Windows is not intended to be used as a server, nor
will future releases contain advanced OS/2 features such as distributed
procesing, the 32-bit flat memory model, threads, or long file names.  OS/2 is
the recommended operating system environment for new or existing 286/386
systems with 3MB or more of memory.”
   -  “Software developers, other than those with current Windows projects under
way, who are targeting both environments, are recommended to start with OS/2.”

William Zachmann, PC Week
4/30/90
"Nifty as Windows 3.0 may be, Windows is still training wheels for
OS/2....Windows will remain a transitional environment on the way to OS/2."



DEVELOPERS

Soft•Letter
3/90
Jeffrey Tarter's Soft•Letter recently listed the top 100 personal computer
software companies in terms of 1989 revenue.  He looked at the choice of
development platforms for the top 100, and here are the results:
94 companies have chosen DOS as a development platform
50 companies have chosen Macintosh as a development platform
35 companies have chosen OS/2 as a development platform
25 companies have chosen Windows as a development platform

"Presentation Manager/Windows" by Summit Strategies
1989
"Few of the majors [software vendors] are yet willing to divert scarce
development resources away from other projects....After all:
     "—While Windows does provide a migration path to PM, Windows development
does not prepare applications to take advantage of the capabilities that will
really sell OS/2 applications....
     "—While Windows does run under DOS, it addresses a much smaller market
because it is not suited for use on 8086 or 8088-based machines, which still
account for over 60 percent of the installed base....
     "—Windows still exacts a performance penalty and has a relatively limited
graphics model....
     "These factors do not bode well for Windows' ability to attract a suite of
applications with anywhere near the breadth and depth of those available for
the Mac."

Patricia Seybold's Office Computing
11/1/89
"Customers who have already committed to MS Windows applications will continue
to buy them, but they should realize that MS Windows won't really gain them the
breathing room they are looking for."