RE: no Java in XP Windows -- MIDRANGE-L

I do agree that integration of VB into the Office suite was innovative.  I
don't agree that Excel and Word gained acceptance in the office because of
the standardized scripting languages.  It seems to me that Excel and Word
gained marketshare over competitors such as 123, Quattro, WP... before
Microsoft came out with the VB-based application macro language.  I remember
WordPerfect and Lotus complaining about having late and incomplete access to
Windows 95 APIs around the time that their market dominance slipped.  Third
party companies developing software for Windows claimed that Microsoft
withheld information about Windows development so that Microsoft could hold
the strategic advantage in applications development.  WordPerfect for
Windows suffered from late release of new functionality and application
bloat.  Also one of WP's major strengths, printer drivers, became redundant
under Windows 95.

The integration of VB scripting into Office apps, bundling the Internet
Explorer interface into the Windows desktop, the integration of Exchange
data into SQL Server, and the anticipated integration of SQL Server into
NT/Windows are, to me, reminiscent of the AS/400.  While Oracle remains as
administration-intensive as ever Microsoft is making some efforts to make
SQL Server run easier out of the box, and might eventually bring the
registry and other OS control files into SQL Server tables with some form of
the database running under the covers.

It won't surprise me if in five to ten years Microsoft's operating systems
become stable, integrated, inclusive platforms rather than the pot-luck
supper we're dealing with in NT and Unix today.

-Jim



-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Richter [mailto:srichter@AutoCoder.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2001 12:22 AM
To: MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
Subject: Re: no Java in XP Windows


Chris,

You say ms does not innovate.  Here is an example of how they have.

Why was excel and word accepted in the office in favor of 123 and wp? Imo,
one of the primary reasons was because they enabled a programming language
to control excel word and access. Visual basic for applications was made the
macro language. COM was developed to enable automation from vc++.

About 8 yrs ago I wrote vb code in excel and appc code in c++ that provided
a real time connection between an excel spreadsheet with the as400 database.
As soon as a part# was entered in a cell, the desc of the part was retrieved
from the as400 and placed in an adjacent cell.

I doubt if I can do that in 123 even today.

I recognize excellence where ever I see it. Maybe if rochester allowed its
developers to make as much money as the ms developers do, we would get the
innovation we need on our platform that we will need in the yrs to come.

Steve Richter



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