“Schmalensee scoffed at the government’s contention that the
lack of software applications for new operating systems bars rival
systems like Linux or IBM’s OS/2 from developing a following.”
“Every leading personal computer operating system was once an
entrant and had to overcome a lack of an installed base of
applications software,” Schmalensee said. He recalled that before
IBM introduced its IBM PC in 1981 there were two operating systems
for microcomputers–Apple II and CP/M–that had many applications.
There were “only a handful” of applications for the PC, “however,
the amount of software available for the PC exploded” in a year or
two.”