"PC" is not a brand name. It does not denote a specific computer manufactured by a specific company. Sony, Dell, HP, and many other companies all compete in the manufacture, design, and marketing of PC�s. So "PC" denotes a standard for computer hardware. Because computer hardware is standardized, it is possible to make one operating system that will run on any PC, regardless of which company made the PC. Windows will run on a Dell machine just as well as it will run on an HP machine. However, it is currently NOT possible to make one software application program that will run on any "PC Operating System", because there is no such thing as a "PC Operating System". There are specific operating systems � Linux, Solaris, Windows, and so on, but there is no standard for PC Operating Systems.
Microsoft�s argument, as I understand it, is that standardization inhibits competition and innovation. They believe that competition means "competing standards" as much as it means "competing to meet a given standard". But even a cursory glance at PC Hardware reveals that one kind of competition doesn�t necessarily preclude the other. For example, USB and Firewire are competing standards, and many computers sold today come equipped with both. Perhaps one of these standards will eventually win out over the other, or maybe computers will forever be equipped with both. But the point is that, even with competition happening at the standards level, PC Hardware has still managed to standardize to the extent that Microsoft does not have to design one operating system for a Sony machine, and a different operating system for a Compaq machine. And this is true even though these very same machines may be equipped with both USB and Firewire, or one or the other. However, if you want to make a
word processor application, you�ll need to design one for Linux, one for Windows, and so on. So, keeping in mind that I wouldn�t know an operating system from a hole in the ground, here�s my stupid question:
What is it about operating system technology that prevents or discourages the kind of competition that currently drives innovation in the market for PC Hardware? Why is there no such thing as a "PC Operating System"? Is it due to some technical characteristic of operating system software? Or is the result of some other factor(s)?