Microsoft vs. Apple and Prey comes after 11 years (PCGH-Retro, July 11)

…1994: Is Microsoft’s Windows 2.0 graphical user interface a copy of Apple’s Macintosh desktop? Apple claims this and therefore went to court in 1988. But Microsoft won the lawsuit, and the verdict was confirmed on July 11, 1994: The two interfaces are therefore similar, but all similarities are covered by a license agreement between the companies from 1985. The fact that Windows looks largely like Mac OS does not constitute copyright infringement. In any case, Windows and Mac OS have a common ancestor: the graphical user interface of the Xerox Alto, which Steve Jobs and Bill Gates saw during a tour of the Xerox research center PARC got.

…1994: He is one of the most tragic figures in computer history: Gary Kildall, founder of Digital Research. With CP/M, Kildall had written one of the first cross-platform operating systems, which soon became a quasi-standard; Digital Research was the first major software company. CP/M was also the first choice for the IBM PC, but things turned out differently – the PC came standard with Microsoft’s DOS, a CP/M clone. The GEM graphical user interface developed by Kildall also did not bring the hoped-for success. It was used on the Atari ST, but soon disappeared from the market with it. While Bill Gates and Microsoft became the greatest powers in the computer market thanks to the success of DOS, Gary Kildall and Digital Research fell into oblivion; Novell swallowed the company in 1991. On July 11, 1994, Kildall died as a result of an accident or a fight in a pub – the circumstances are never fully clarified.

…2006: It is one of the last DOS-based operating systems: Windows 98, long since replaced by the NT-based Windows XP. Microsoft will end support for the system on July 11th.

… 2006: Few games have been in development that long: Prey was announced in 1995 and is coming this July 11, 2006 on the market, so after eleven years. However, development was stopped in 1999 and only started again in 2001. The graphics engine was also changed several times over the years or fundamentally revised; after all, the game gets the Doom 3 engine. After all, Prey made it onto the market after 11 years – in contrast to another work by 3D Realms, Duke Nukem Forever, which was supposed to be released before Prey but only five years later appeared.