"Microsoft engineers, are you launching a new work?" Tang Huan made a surprised gesture, and in his heart he was speculating about what cards Gates was going to play.

"It's not a new piece of software, and in 1979, Microsoft got a license for UNIX from AT&T and built Xenix on top of it." Gates explained carefully.

"I see." Tang Huan nodded suddenly.

Strictly speaking, Microsoft's expansion into the operating system space did not start with MS-DOS, but with Xenix of UNIX pedigree - because Microsoft was not able to get authorization from AT&T to use "UNIX" in the product name, which gave it a plausible new name.

Originally, Gates and Gary? Kildare has a tacit understanding that Microsoft's BASIC and Digital Research's CP/M are working together in their respective programming tools and operating system areas to form an alliance.

In the early days of the personal computer industry, this mechanism undoubtedly brought considerable benefits to both parties. It's a pity that the so-called friendship still can't stand the test of interests.

There is no point in finding out who got their hands on it first, and the fact is that both sides have riveted a nail in the traditional turf of each other's products.

In 1980, Microsoft released a version of Xenix for 16-bit systems, which could run on the popular DEC minicomputer PDP-11, which first met Microsoft's own needs.

In the early days of the personal computer, a variety of hardware platforms emerged, although it was very lively. But it also creates trouble for being confused.

From a programmer's point of view. Lack of a stable standard platform. On this basis, we can develop programs that are suitable for all kinds of personal computer system environments.

At the time, the common solution was to run it on a minicomputer, depending on the CPU used by the PC.

Because PDP-11 is designed with a highly normalized instruction set, which makes it easy for programmers to memorize all the codes and methods for specifying operators, it is favored by developers and is naturally supported by Microsoft.

Gates developed Xenix, and his main goal was, of course, aimed at the personal computer, a platform he had been working on for many years.

Merely. Microsoft's technical power is really limited, and the BASIC compiler is already exhausting for programmers to support a wide variety of PC platforms one by one, and it is impossible to put more resources into the field of PC operating systems that need to face strong competition from CP/M and unpredictable returns.

In this way, Gates's sales strategy for Xenix is that Microsoft does not sell it directly to end customers, but licenses it to Intel, Tangdi, Gotus, Santa Cruz and other companies in the form of OEM, so that they can carry out further code porting for specific hardware structures.

When Microsoft hugged IBM's lap, it was relatively easy to use only one hardware architecture for IBM-PC. After developing MS-DOS, a simple operating system, Gates' interest in Xenix waned significantly.

But. When it found that MS-DOS could not provide support for multitasking, large memory, and increasingly popular graphical user interfaces on the IBM-PC/AT platform, it was crushed by Fangyuan personal computers, and decided to jointly develop a new and more powerful operating system.

Gates naturally had no choice to refuse, and at the same time, he also deeply felt the danger of being abandoned, so he hurriedly looked for a way back.

Windows is out of the question, and although it has borrowed a lot of MAC experience from Apple, it has not made much progress, and the release schedule that was released to combat VisiOn's possible coveting of the IBM-PC operating system has really become a smokescreen.

Fortunately, there are not a few big deceptions in the personal computer industry in order to attract investment, and Gates will not be so ashamed that he will not dare to go out under the fingers of thousands of people.

But because of this, when Gates tried to suggest to IBM to develop a new operating system based on Windows, the other party rejected it without trust.

Just when Gates thinks he can't find a way out, Steve Ballmer, who has been tortured to the point of losing his hair and taking a step towards the bald realm, suggests that he might as well pay attention to Xenix, who was previously left out in the cold.

It turns out that in just a few years, UNIX, the patriarch of the operating system, has also undergone a lot of changes.

As early as the 1950s, AT&T had intended to enter the era of the vigorous mainframe computer, but the US Department of Justice, which was alert to its unshakable monopoly in the field of communications but had no way to do it, temporarily connived at the conditions for the continued monopoly to prevent it from getting involved in the computer industry.

But as AT&T's fortunes became more and more irrevocable in the late 1970s, the U.S. Department of Justice began to allow it to enter the computer industry as compensation.

AT&T was ambitious in this regard, as can be seen in its plan to break up, retaining Western Electric in order to enter the computer field.

When Tang Huan sought to acquire Pacific Bell, as a bargaining chip, AT&T obtained most of the licenses of Fangyuan Computer, which had the foundation in hardware, and the software naturally fell on the operating system UNIX.

In 1979, the year Microsoft licensed UNIX from AT&T, and the last year that UNIX was free to distribute research versions, Bell Labs released the seventh version of UNIX.

Since then, AT&T has been working on a commercial version of UNIX, and in 1982 developed the first version of UNIXSystem III., a commercial version for sale only, which included limited support for the RISC-based microprocessor Holder and the CircleHub workstation.

In 1983, AT&T released an enhanced version of UNIXSystemIII.—UNIXSystemVRelease1. It fully supports Fangyuan server and Fangyuan workstation based on RISC architecture microprocessor Holder.

Speak from the heart. For the results of AT&T's work. Tang Huan was not satisfied. Guy is a slow big brother to adapt to the explosive progress of the computer industry in this era.

Due to historical reasons, UNIX users on supercomputers, mainframes, and minicomputers are very widespread, and people's habits are the most difficult to change, not to mention the elite of these computer industries.

Therefore, the Fangyuan server and Fangyuan workstation in the high-end application field, the operating system Vientiane with which it is matched cannot be liked by all users.

In order to accommodate them. AT&T's UNIX is a good addition. However, although UNIX has been ported, there is still a big gap between UNIX and Vientiane in terms of function.

To this end, Tang Huan privately funded the Berkeley Software Distribution—BSD project, which also developed UNIX at the University of California at Berkeley, but had a very lenient user license, and kept drawing blood—to recruit people from this team into his company.

Under the development of such two lines going hand in hand, UNIX's support for Fangyuan servers and Fangyuan workstations has become increasingly perfect, which has also led to UNIX's support for low-end Fangyuan personal computers.

Microsoft Xenix, based on AT&T's UNIXSystem III, has made the most remarkable progress.

On its authorized list, Gotus introduced a version for its own Intel 8086 PC in early 1982, and other companies also implemented support for Zilog-based Z8001, Motorola's MC68000 PC. Even the Lisa computer, which Apple can't sell. There are also people who are willing to do code porting.

The licensing company that has the closest partnership with Microsoft is Santa Cruz Operation, or SCO.

The company was founded by Doug Michels and his father, Larry Michels, Larry Michels. Incorporated in January 1979, its main business is UNIX porting and providing software consultants.

In early 1984, Santa Cruz successfully ported Xenix to the Fangyuan PC platform.

Accompanied by Steve Ballmer, Gates went to Santa Cruz to confirm the results of this work, and couldn't help but be a little dumbfounded, saying that the other party's professional ability is really not stingy with his own Microsoft.

After the shock, Gates was immediately overjoyed, this is a great opportunity to come to the door!

You must know that for Fangyuan personal computers, the most popular and largest hardware platform, Gates has long coveted it. It's just that, compared to FreeDOS, the foundation of MS-DOS is too bad, no matter how thick-skinned he is, he doesn't have the courage to set up a project and let his programmers transplant it to the Fangyuan personal computer platform.

However, Xenix of UNIX pedigree is different, and its architectural advancement is widely recognized.

In Gates' view, if Xenix can be promoted to Fangyuan's personal computer platform, then Microsoft can be left and right, no matter which side of Fangyuan or IBM wins in the future, it will make a steady profit.

"When IBM-PC was launched, it provided three operating systems: PC-DOS, CP/M-86, and UCSDp-System, allowing users to choose freely, and the response was very good. If Fangyuan personal computers can also learn from this experience, it will inevitably receive good feedback, at least to attract users who are more fond of UNIX. Gates lobbied diligently.

Tang Huan had a smile on his face, nodded frequently, listened very seriously, and seemed to appreciate it, but his evaluation of Gates's rhetoric in his heart was "a bunch of nonsense, deceive the ghost".

Previously, IBM-PC did offer three operating systems for users to choose from, but that was because Gary? Kildare accused that IBM's PC-DOS, also known as Microsoft's MS-DOS, plagiarized the digital research company's CP/M.

In order to get IBM-PC on the market as soon as possible, the blue giant neutralized the mud and made CP/M-86 an optional operating system, plus a UCSDp-System with low practicability, which can be regarded as throwing all legal responsibility to users.

But it is undeniable how much this move adds to IBM, which is more often a monopoly market image.

Due to the price factor, CP/M could not attract users, and the UCSDp-System was not cared for, and MS-DOS was the obvious winner.

Later, IBM felt that this fancy shelf was really unnecessary, so it simply only provided PC-DOS as an operating system.

Fangyuan's personal computer platform is innocent, there are no such bad things at all, so naturally there is no need to do such meaningless things. However, what Gates said about "attracting users who are more fond of UNIX" has a little bit of reference value.

What Tang Huan really thinks about is that if Microsoft's Xenix is allowed to land on the Fangyuan personal computer platform, it will make Gates, who has a lot of choices, become half-hearted on the road of operating system research and development.

In Tang Huan's eyes, Gates who suffers from gains and losses is much cuter than Gates who fought against the odds.

In the original time and space, from the development of the BASIC compiler for the Cowherd Star Computer in 1975 to the complete end of the desktop operating system battle in 1995 in 1995, Microsoft has reached the top step by step under the adversity of meeting IBM and fierce competition with other companies.

If you look at the spreadsheet software market today, how much space has been lost to Microsoft's MultiPlan by Lotus's Lotus 1-2-3 shows how difficult it is.

Let Xenix give Microsoft an idea, and then put Gates in a state where he doesn't have to fight against the water, then even if he has a small achievement, he can only be a pawn driven by his own will.

Thinking of this, in Gates' expectation, Tang Huan finally nodded, "Okay, in principle, I welcome Microsoft's Xenix to land on the Fangyuan personal computer platform." ”

Seeing Gates' happy expression, Tang Huan immediately added: "However, the underlying system software such as the operating system is not a child's play, and Xenix needs to pass the PortableOperatingSystemInterface of Fangyuan Lab - a portable operating system interface that is POSI certification. ”

Tang Huan's meaning is very simple: if you want to enter my territory to make a living, then you must follow my rules of the game and meet the necessary qualifications.

POSI is a set of standards that need to be followed by software running on the Fangyuan computer platform, including interactive interfaces.

Figuratively speaking, there is only one boss on the Fangyuan computer platform, Tang Huan, no one wants to monopolize a mountain here and establish himself as the king, and an open data exchange channel must be realized.

As soon as he heard this, Gates couldn't help but look embarrassed, because he had learned the power of the certification system that Tang Huan had developed by taking advantage of his leading technology.

Although after passing the certification, the packaging and interface of the product can be accompanied by exquisite Zheru and Fangyuan logos, which has greatly won the trust and favor of users, but the certification process is also quite painstaking, and sometimes even a kind of invasion of corporate culture.

For example, Microsoft engineers will unconsciously attack after developing a new version of a product, wondering whether they want to pass the certification of Zheru or Fangyuan to prove their strength.

"I don't know, how difficult is this POSI certification?" Gates asked, stiffly.

"Isn't Microsoft's BASIC also going through a similar certification? So you can rest assured that we always have a service attitude to promote this kind of work. Xenix is only available on the Fangyuan PC platform, and it should take no more than three months. ”

After Tang Huan was appeased, he smiled and encouraged: "The fourth-generation Fangyuan personal computer with 32-bit architecture also welcomes Xenix to land. ”

"Heck, I can't help but work with IBM to develop OS/2 and Xenix on the other." After this thought flashed through his mind, Gates couldn't help but be torn between them.

……

This month is a leap month, with 29 days, which reminds me that this book has been written for a year and a half, isn't it smelly and long. (To be continued.) )