Windows 98 Overview. Part 2.

Microsoft, however, had a falling out with IBM. Microsoft elected to cease development on the OS/2 project, and concentrate solely on its Windows development effort. Soon, Microsoft's Windows 3.1 product became the standard for personal computers. The contrast between the machine-like name "OS/2" and the catchy "Windows" name underscores central cultural differences between IBM and Microsoft. IBM's primary business is mainframes, and its primary objectives are technical competence and reliability. Microsoft's primary business is personal computers, and its primary competencies lie in marketing and in distribution channels. Windows 3.1 was not as easy to use as the Macintosh, nor as technically sound as OS/2. Yet, it managed to out-compete both of them, primarily due to distribution channels and (in the case of the Mac) price.

While Windows helped PC clone manufacturers, it hurt operating system clone manufacturers, specifically, Digital Research. Digital Research had been producing DR-DOS, an operating system similar to MS-DOS, that could run programs written for MS-DOS. However, the advent of Windows meant that now, people had to use Microsoft's Windows to run Windows-based programs. In addition, Microsoft allegedly created false error messages, so that if Windows was run "on top of" DR-DOS (instead of MS-DOS) then the computer would report an error. This action is the subject of a lawsuit.

With the disappearance of the Digital Research operating system as an effective alternative to Microsoft, the power that the latter had over computer manufacturers increased considerably. The price of operating systems was increased, and computer manufacturers were forced to sign exclusive agreements with Microsoft. These arrangements may have helped Microsoft take control of the market for office productivity suites. Cydonia has never signed an exclusive agreement with any of its suppliers.

By the time that IBM released OS/2 Warp, Microsoft had established Windows as the default operating system, so much so that IBM built Windows 3.1 compatibility into OS/2 Warp. This, despite the need to pay Microsoft a royalty to do so. The OS/2 Warp effort failed miserably.

However, Windows 95, released shortly thereafter, was an overwhelming success. These events clearly illustrated the power that Microsoft now wielded over the desktop, and the inability of anyone, even IBM, to effectively alter the situation.