Perhaps Rob Pike had OpenDoc in mind, which was cancelled by Apple in 1997: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDoc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDoc -

Perhaps Rob Pike had OpenDoc in mind, which was cancelled by Apple in 1997: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDoc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDoc - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFJdjk2rq4E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFJdjk2rq4E -- a roughly three-minute promotional video describing OpenDoc - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FSFvEIpm5o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FSFvEIpm5o -- a 54-minute video with much more information about OpenDoc Also, while COM is used by Windows developers, I argue the vast majority of non-developer Windows users are unaware of COM. The most they've experienced end-user component-based software is OLE (the technology that enables embedded documents; e.g., having an Excel spreadsheet inside a Word document) and ActiveX (before it became infamous for its security vulnerabilities). However, even though COM (and alternatively the .NET Common Language Infrastructure) provides the infrastructure to create a marketplace of components that can be mixed-and-matched just like how Unix tools can be strung together, the Windows ecosystem is still dominated by large applications, though I believe this has much more to do with the economics of the software industry (companies want to sell integrated solutions, not components) rather than any technological limitations; I believe this is the same factor that caused Apple to cancel OpenDoc; my opinion is that Apple in 1997 needed the support of large software vendors like Adobe and Microsoft in order for the Mac to stay alive, and OpenDoc's promise of fostering a marketplace of components is disruptive to vendors of large software applications, particularly the same vendors Apple wanted to continue making Mac applications.