who started first. apple or msft?

Microsoft was a software-only company until the late 90's, whereas Apple has been a hardware company from day one, and later software company as well, but still not their core business. Everything is copied from someone to one degree or another. Microsoft and Apple were busy improving on what IBM was doing, and making it possible for the beginning of personal computers in houses, schools, businesses. Both companies have been extremely successful, and frankly, having both benefited consumers with new and innovative products. Apple & Microsoft, or Coke & Pepsi... both good depending on ones personal preferences.

 

Computers have been around for 60+ years. What apple did initially was bring the "personal" computer out of the realm of electronic hobbyists and into the mainstream. They didn't invent the computer, they didn't invent the PC. They just turned PCs from assemble-it-yourself kits into prepackaged machines.

Furthermore Apple wasn't this super innovative machine working in a vacuum. They are often credited with creating the graphical user interface (often told as Microsoft copied the design for windows). But they didn't create it -- they took an existing idea from Xerox (who were toying with an idea as old as computers themselves).


What Apple did was bring in all of these outside ideas -- personal computers, graphic interface, word processing, etc and bundle it all into 1 package wholly controled by Apple. Apple hardware running Apple software.


What Microsoft did was more impressive, though less glamorous. They created software that would run on (nearly) anyone's hardware. Their office suite of software revolutionized the way we do business. Microsoft Excel, by itself, is probably the single most powerful piece of software out there. While most barely scratch its surface, it can be used to perform extraordinary complex tasks -- all on your PC. And Microsoft Word has become the standard word processing program. It didn't start off that way -- Word Perfect was the king in the 80's.

At the time, PCs were primarily used for 2 things: games & word processing. It was a glorified typewriter... But Microsoft included a bundle of software that opened users eyes to what was possible with their little toys. Need to perform mathematical tasks as simple as addition and basic graphing all the way to computational analysis? use excel -- already on your pc. Need a word processor? Use word. Need to make a presentation? Use powerpoint. Need to use a database? Use access.

There were already individual examples of all those programs out there -- and, aside from excel, the microsoft versions weren't the best. But by bundling them users could learn a new program in a familiar windows environment. Microsoft took exisiting products and made them easier for the lay person to use -- which is exactly what Apple was doing when it sold the first mass-produced preassembled personal computer.

Only Apple products were expensive -- limited to enthusiasts & the 1%. And because of the Apple control-freak ethos, you couldn't easily use outside programs -- an insurmountable hurdle for the layman. Because windows would work on any IBM-compatible PC, it wasn't just a toy for the upper class but was available to the middle class as well.

 

double yellow. Nice post.

 

He Lies...... God made the first Apple , and Eva screwed that up!!

 

Ever see the film Pirates of Silicon Valley ?

Here's a clip..
.

[video=youtube_share;9nfgRf2A0Tc]http://youtu.be/9nfgRf2A0Tc[/video]

 

What Apple did was to put an graphics mode into the market with an open architecture - competing against Tandy and Commodore PET who were popular computers but didn't have that color graphics feature. There was also the apps, they sold Visicalc and another package to apple users while promoting their products to specific segments of the population.

They also pushed hard into the education market, not offering discounts to schools but rather make resellers out of teachers by promoting free education material to the classes who have apple computers. I remember the argument between the data processing teacher that didn't like Apple because of their underhanded way of ensuring their product in the class rooms and a science teacher who was a cult follower, it was amazing what a defense some of these people mounted in order to get Apple in the schools. I was lucky, I had to take classes with an IBM (punch cards anyone?), a Litton which was a cool machine and my last round of learning was on a Xerox.

Right from the beginning, they controlled every aspect of development on their platform, you could not sell something that was 'apple II' compatible without their involvement and at the time you had to use their tools.

MS was the supplier to IBM for their OS on the XT/AT computers and then when the IBM clones came about, they departed from their IBM contract and sold their OS on the open market to clone owners. The software would not run on anything but the IBM architecture, which was what triggered the clone wars. IF apple followed IBM/MS path in the market, they would have dominated the market but it took them 30 years to come to the conclusion that the IBM architecture was the way to go.

What really set MS apart from Apple was development, they gave everything away that would help people write programs on the MS OS. Apple had and still has control over this, while MS grew to actually be able to buy Apple at one time because of their positive development environment and support.

But to answer the OP's question - who was the first, it wasn't either apple or MS.

It was Xerox who had a WYSIWYG word processor, a group type communications program, a multiuser game and even had an email program. They came out with their own computer back in '72.

 

I don't remember the details but at one point Apple used a operating system from Microsoft.

 

I'll still say the Commodore 64 had potential....lol