Computer File
Yes, These Programs Do Windows
Lawrence J. Magid
Los Angeles Times, December 4, 1983
Microcomputers are becoming increasingly powerful. And now they even do windows.
Several companies have recently announced software that allows you to divide your computer’s screen into two or more “windows,” so that the output from more than one program can be viewed at once.
Although the window systems vary, they all allow you to use a pointing device called a “mouse” that you move along the desk top or a special pad to help you move about the screen and select programs to run and display. The mouse is used to move the pointer (cursor) about the screen; buttons on top of the mouse are used to execute commands. (The device is named for the furry rodent because it is about the same size and has a cord that resembles a tail.)
Windows and mice were prevalent at last week’s Comdex computer exposition in Las Vegas. Window systems were displayed by several companies, including Apple Computer Inc., whose Lisa, released at the beginning of this year, was the first single-user microcomputer to incorporate the technology.
At least three companies displayed window software for the IBM Personal Computer and other 16-bit computers. VisiCorp (San Jose), the company that markets the popular VisiCalc spreadsheet programs, demonstrated its recently released VisiOn (pronounced VIZZY-on) system, while Microsoft Corp. (Bellevue, Wash.), the company that provides the operating-system software that is standard for IBM and most other 16-bit systems, demonstrated a prototype of the windows it plans to release next April.
QuarterDeck Office Systems, a fledgling company in Santa Monica, showed window software that it plans to make available in January under the name DesQ.
The VisiCorp system is selling for $495. DesQ is expected to cost $399, while Microsoft said its program will be available for less than $300. Of course, the mouse and application software will be extra.
Competition Heats Up
All the window software “makes provisions for users to view two or more applications at the same time and see what is going on,” explained Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft. A user can “pull up a tiny little window and do some calculating and take the results and use it in the main window.”
Competition to cash in on the new window technology is heating up fast. Apple, which was the first to introduce the technology, recently lowered the price of its Lisa system and has just brought out a mouse to work with its Apple IIe system.
VisiOn, announced about a year ago, had been expected by many industry analysts to dominate the window market for 16-bit microcomputers. But the ultimate success of the product is now in question. It is compatible only with specially adapted software. Even VisiCorp’s popular VisiCalc spreadsheet program is incompatible with VisiOn. To use a spreadsheet with VisiOn, for example, it’s necessary to purchase the recently created VisiOn Calc. The company is also releasing VisiOn-compatible word-processing, graphics and data-base programs and is encouraging other companies to develop compatible software.
Just because a program is incompatible with VisiOn, however, does not mean that it can’t run on the same computer. “You can transfer out of VisiOn and run a program on the machine’s native operating system,” according to VisiCorp President Terry Opdendyke.
Microsoft Windows, announced last month, is billed as an extension of Microsoft’s MS-DOS operating system, the most popular operating system for the IBM PC and most other 16-bit computers.
Marketing Agreements
Some programs that run under MS-DOS use screen formats that are not compatible with windows; however, most of the popular business-application programs will work with the product, Microsoft’s Gates said. (This is akin to having a color television set; black-and-white programs are still compatible, but don’t take advantage of the set’s full potential.) Lotus 1-2-3, VisiCalc and WordStar are among the programs that will work with Microsoft’s multiwindows.
Microsoft and VisiCorp are major forces in the software industry and already have joint marketing agreements with major computer hardware and software manufacturers. VisiCorp recently announced that IBM has agreed to sell VisiOn at the giant computer maker’s company-owned product centers. Microsoft has entered into marketing agreements with at least 24 computer makers, including Zenith, Wang, Radio Shack, Hewlett-Packard, Compaq, Texas Instruments and Honeywell.
While not nearly as prominent as competing products, QuarterDeck’s DesQ is designed to work with “most existing MS-DOS-compatible software without any modifications to the application programs,” according to company President Therese Myers. Although DesQ does not offer as many graphics capabilities as the Microsoft and VisiOn programs, it is able to run on an IBM Monochrome (text) monitor. The other two products require a graphics or color display system.
Microsoft has an advantage in another area: Its window program is designed to run with floppy disks, which can store about 360,000 characters, while the other two programs require the more expensive hard disk systems capable of storing at least 5 million characters.
The ultimate success of any of these systems depends on whether they are compatible with the popular programs, and that, of course, remains to be seen.
This jargon-heavy industry has two new buzzwords. Who would have associated such familiar objects as windows and mice with the cutting edge of high technology?