ACKnowledge The Window Letter articles from June 1991

ACKnowledge The Window Letter archives from June 1991

IBM & Apple; back to the future. (Apple to design proprietary software for proprietary IBM hardware)
June 28, 1991... Last January, Microsoft saw the writing on the wall and dumped OS/2 and Presentation Manager as part of its high-end strategy. Microsoft saw Windows expanding from its mid-range slot into a high-end product that would take the place of OS/2,...

The Bill Gates memo. (memo from Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates) (transcript)
June 28, 1991... The Bill Gates 'memo' first surfaced as a lead article by Lee Gomes in the San Jose Mercury News ('Microsoft's Gates Eyes Challenges,' Tuesday June 18, 1991. After the story ran, the complete memo was faxed to anyone requesting it by...

Short quiz. (humor) (Windows Watch)
June 28, 1991... What's Blue and Pink, and turns What's Blue and Pink, and turns Microsoft apple green? (Do we really have to tell you the answer to this one?)

Big Blue's deals. (IBM licenses and buys technology) (Windows Watch)
June 28, 1991... Big Blue has been licensing and/or buying technology right and left--from Apple, Borland, Go, Lotus, Metaphor, Next, and Novell. How much of it they'll actually use, and how they plan to use it, is an interesting question. In June, IBM...

Getting bigger. (OS/2 2.0 beta copy occupies up to 20 Mbytes of hard disk space) (Windows Watch)
June 28, 1991... The current OS/2 2.0 beta takes up 18-20 Mbytes of hard disk space and requires 18 disks to load. This sounds more like a server than a desktop operating system. Most users we talk to have 40 Mbyte hard disks and would have trouble finding 5...

More deals. (Novell Inc. purchases Digital Research Inc.) (Windows Watch)
June 28, 1991... Novell has just purchased Digital Research, creator of DR DOS. Does anyone need another operating system on the desktop? We already have DOS, Windows, OS/2, UNIX, Pick, Max, etc.

SPC's slump. (Software Publishing Corp. reports drop in earnings) (Windows Watch)
June 28, 1991... Software Publishing Corporation's sales were up compared to last year, but the company reported a 99% drop in earnings for the first quarter of 1991 to $66,000. Earnings fell from $4.9 million to $66,000. Operating expenses exceed income by...

Up for grabs. (Softview Inc. for sale) (Windows Watch )
June 28, 1991... Softview Inc. (Oxnard, CA) is for sale, according to industry sources. Publisher of MacinTax for the Mac and Windows, Softview will cost some lucky buyer about $15 million.

On point. (Central Point Software Inc. has good sales, but its PC Tools 7.0 file management software is bug-ridden) (Windows Watch)
June 28, 1991... Central Point Software Beaverton, OR (had sales of $53.8 million for its fiscal year ending March 31, up 108% over 1990. Its first quarter more than doubled--from $5.4 million in 1990 to $10.9 million in 1991. Central Point's major source of...

An eyefull. (Aristosoft Inc.'s More Windows screen utility) (Windows Watch) (product announcement)
June 28, 1991... Off-the-shelf from Aristosoft is a handy software CRT enhancer called More Windows that increases the effective area of EGA or VGA monitors in Windows 3.0. Recently updated, the package now provides easier installation and a 1K x 1K...

Portfolio padding? (IBM purchases Metaphor) (Windows Watch)
June 28, 1991... IBM's rather unexpected purchase of Metaphor indicates they are licensing technology right and left: Apple, Metaphor, NextStep, Novell, Borland, Lotus. I would be impressed if I knew how much of it they'll actually use--and how they plan to...

One-on-one. (Traveling Software Inc.'s WinConnect laptop to microcomputer connectivity utility) (Windows Watch ) (product announcement)
June 28, 1991... Traveling Software, the LapLink people, have begun shipping WinConnect, a utility that links PCs and/or laptops running Windows. The software uses a pop-up interface for manipulating files (it runs as an hDC MicroApp), comes with a 25-ft serial...

The doctor is in. (Microsoft offers Dr. Watson, a Windows diagnostic utility) (Windows Watch) (Product Announcement)
June 28, 1991... Microsoft has made available on CompuServe a diagnostic tool utility called Dr. Watson. Watson is designed to provide developers with detailed infomation on the internal state of Windows when a system error such as an unrecoverable application...

The last Word. (Microsoft Corp.'s Word 5.0 for the Macintosh) (Windows Watch)
June 28, 1991... Microsoft's about-to-be-released Word 5 for the Macintosh is very like the updated Word for Windows which will arrive this fall. Expect a cross platform product with drawing tools, icons, column icons (like Symantec's new Just Write). Also...