Microsoft VS CodeProject....
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I was sitting on the thrown this morning doing some thinking and watching my stocks crap out. And I wondered..... If all the talented minds of CodeProject did a vulcan mind meld, could we create an operating system that could be a competitor to Win9x for the x86 platform and also be compatible with the existing applications, as a replacement OS for the mass populus.(Linux and MacOS are alternatives, so they don't count) I'm talking a compatible OS that could sell for $19.95 + shipping :cool: CodeProject 'Shutters 2001 Beta 1' :eek: (yeah,yeah, yeah... besides MS's proprietary API's DLL's, Secret's....) what do you think, Could it be done.
Writing an OS isn't as easy as you might think (Even if you think it's quite difficult, it's even worse than you imagine). Making it for $19.95 is even harder, since you're talking hundreds of thousands of man hours. You will lose money, lots of it. Look how much money MS has invested in Windows NT and still is probably not breaking even on that (They make most of their money on Apps and Windows 9x). My first question to you would be: Why? Why would I buy your product instead of MS's? If it's just a clone, what's the point? You would need some compelling reason to use it. The "it's cheaper" argument won't fly. Linux is cheaper, and while some people use it because of that, most don't. Even MS has a hard time making a new OS that is completely compatible with Win9x (NT/Win2k is close, but there are many slight differences which can bite you). Application compatibility is a noose around your neck, it will kill you if you're not very careful. IBM learned that with OS/2. In order for an OS to be a replacement for the average person, it has to be pretty seamless. This is why Apple and Windows have been so succesful, the GUI environment is the OS to its users, while OS's like Linux have the GUI bolted on (which is an advantage in many ways, but not when it comes to end-users). MS learned this a long time ago.