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> The graphical operating system that could have been for the IBM XT Visi On[1] was a graphical operating system for the IBM PC that actually existed as a comm

> The graphical operating system that could have been for the IBM XT Visi On[1] was a graphical operating system for the IBM PC that actually existed as a commercial product, though definitely not a very successful one. It was made by VisiCorp, the same company that created VisiCalc (the first spreadsheet for a personal computer). It was demoed at COMDEX in 1982, before the Apple Lisa was released. It came out after the Lisa but slightly before the Macintosh. Here's their promotional video from 1983: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc4wFeVvKTI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc4wFeVvKTI Fun fact: Bill Gates saw the demo at COMDEX, and at first he was skeptical that it was really running on an IBM PC. But ultimately he was so impressed he decided[2] to start developing a product called Microsoft Windows. --- [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visi_On https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visi_On [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_1.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_1.0

wewewedxfgdf 2mo ago
This kinda almost makes it sound like VisiOn introduced Gates to the GUI which is not true. They were already using and developing for Macintosh machines at Microsoft and had hired Charles Simonyi from PARC with his expertise in GUI systems before Comdex 1982. The story seems to be more that seeing VisiOn gave MS the nudge to get into action on the GUI due to a sense of competition/urgenbcy from VisiOn rather than learning about the GUI from VisiOn.
- walrus01 2mo ago
  Stories about Xerox PARC aside, the Apple Lisa was released to the market at the end of January 1983, and I would be surprised if Microsoft wasn't big enough/rich enough at that point to acquire at least a couple of units from the very first batch to mess around with. Windows 1.0 RTM was November 1985.
  - pjmlp 2mo ago
    Xenix supported the Lisa, and Excel was born on the Mac Classic.
  - reactordev 2mo ago
    Microsoft was big enough as they were already selling DOS and DOS software.
  - cmrdporcupine 2mo ago
    The world of computers was much smaller then. Everyone motivated enough knew what everyone else was doing.
jggonz 2mo ago
Author of the AI written os8088 OS here... Thanks for sharing the promotional video for Visi On. It's cool to see how many different companies gave this a shot back in the 80s.
- prmoustache 2mo ago
  From what I understand, the AI is the author, not you. You are the customer.
- lelanthran 2mo ago
  > Author of the AI written os8088 OS here... I'm curious about your goal in purchasing this project. You don't get any peer recognition. You don't gain any special skill. You can't copyright it. You can't sell it. You can't use it for anything useful. You can't use it as a learning exercise. It can't really be built on. It can't serve as a tutorial for others to learn. You don't get the satisfaction of a job well done (well, no more than the satisfaction you get from buying a toaster on Amazon). Pre-LLM, something like this was a huge achievement. Now it's the equivalent of a 1st-grader showing off their finger-painting like it was the Mona Lisa. So, what are you getting out of this?
  - userbinator 2mo ago
    This is something that hasn't been done before, and now exists. Yes someone could spend immense amounts of time and effort, but clearly no one bothered to until AI made it easier. yet the complainers will always complain because they don't have anything better to do with their own time... "bugger off!" as they say.
    - lelanthran 2mo ago
      None of what you say answers any of my questions. It's hard to be impressed when someone purchases a new toaster, even if it's a bespoke toaster. I want to know what the author thinks he got out of this.
      - 2mo ago
watersb 2mo ago
There was also DesQView/X, an X Windows server for DOS. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DESQview#DESQview/X https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DESQview#DESQview/X

wewewedxfgdf 2mo ago

This kinda almost makes it sound like VisiOn introduced Gates to the GUI which is not true. They were already using and developing for Macintosh machines at Microsoft and had hired Charles Simonyi from PARC with his expertise in GUI systems before Comdex 1982. The story seems to be more that seeing VisiOn gave MS the nudge to get into action on the GUI due to a sense of competition/urgenbcy from VisiOn rather than learning about the GUI from VisiOn.

walrus01 2mo ago
Stories about Xerox PARC aside, the Apple Lisa was released to the market at the end of January 1983, and I would be surprised if Microsoft wasn't big enough/rich enough at that point to acquire at least a couple of units from the very first batch to mess around with. Windows 1.0 RTM was November 1985.
- pjmlp 2mo ago
  Xenix supported the Lisa, and Excel was born on the Mac Classic.
- reactordev 2mo ago
  Microsoft was big enough as they were already selling DOS and DOS software.
- cmrdporcupine 2mo ago
  The world of computers was much smaller then. Everyone motivated enough knew what everyone else was doing.

jggonz 2mo ago

Author of the AI written os8088 OS here... Thanks for sharing the promotional video for Visi On. It's cool to see how many different companies gave this a shot back in the 80s.

prmoustache 2mo ago
From what I understand, the AI is the author, not you. You are the customer.
lelanthran 2mo ago
> Author of the AI written os8088 OS here... I'm curious about your goal in purchasing this project. You don't get any peer recognition. You don't gain any special skill. You can't copyright it. You can't sell it. You can't use it for anything useful. You can't use it as a learning exercise. It can't really be built on. It can't serve as a tutorial for others to learn. You don't get the satisfaction of a job well done (well, no more than the satisfaction you get from buying a toaster on Amazon). Pre-LLM, something like this was a huge achievement. Now it's the equivalent of a 1st-grader showing off their finger-painting like it was the Mona Lisa. So, what are you getting out of this?
- userbinator 2mo ago
  This is something that hasn't been done before, and now exists. Yes someone could spend immense amounts of time and effort, but clearly no one bothered to until AI made it easier. yet the complainers will always complain because they don't have anything better to do with their own time... "bugger off!" as they say.
  - lelanthran 2mo ago
    None of what you say answers any of my questions. It's hard to be impressed when someone purchases a new toaster, even if it's a bespoke toaster. I want to know what the author thinks he got out of this.
    - 2mo ago

watersb 2mo ago

There was also DesQView/X, an X Windows server for DOS. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DESQview#DESQview/X https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DESQview#DESQview/X