Ibm Wins Round In Battle With Microsoft Top European Pc Manufacturer Drops Ms-Dos In Favor Of Os-2
Vobis Computer, the largest maker of personal computers in Europe, on Wednesday said it would abandon Microsoft Corp.’s MS-DOS operating software in its machines in favor of IBM’s version.
The move is the second challenge to Microsoft by Vobis, which got attention last fall by deciding to put IBM’s OS-2 as well as Microsoft’s Windows on all its PCs.
Vobis has since shipped 300,000 computers with the combination, helping OS-2 gain far greater market share in Europe than it has in the United States. International Business Machines Corp. estimates 40 percent of PCs in Germany use OS-2, compared to less than 5 percent in the United States.
During a news conference at CeBIT, Europe’s largest computer show, Vobis chief executive Theo Lieven matter-of-factly announced the abandonment of MS-DOS operating software, which before Windows was Microsoft’s core product.
The company now will ship IBM’s OS-2 software in combination with Microsoft’s Windows.
Operating systems run the basic functions of a computer, such as opening a file. Word processors, spreadsheets, and other applications must be written to work with operating systems.
The move may be a negotiating tactic by Vobis for Windows 95, an updated program Microsoft intends to bring out later this year to compete with OS-2. Lieven said his company intends to offer both programs to customers.
He did not mince words about Microsoft though, saying, “They have been monopolists since day one.”
Vobis was unique in openly criticizing Microsoft’s pricing policy that had the effect of requiring PC makers to pay for Windows even on machines that didn’t use it, a practice that caused many makers to shy away from other operating systems.
U.S. and European regulators compelled Microsoft to give up that practice in an antitrust settlement last year.
That settlement was rejected last month by a U.S. federal judge, who said it should have addressed other questionable practices by Microsoft.
Shortly after the settlement, Vobis started offering OS-2 as well as Windows.