“This mixture of computer systems would have many benefits.
Hardware and software designers would more aggressively pursue open
standards. Software designers would be forced to find better,
faster ways to port their applications without having to sacrifice
functionality, perhaps adopting cross-platform standards.
Operating systems would be forced to survive on their own
merits, rather than by how much software, or which software,
is available for them. Mischievous programmers who write
viruses wouldn’t be able to affect anywhere near as many
people.”
“I think it could be a good idea to go so far as to make it
illegal for operating systems to be bundled with new computers,
aside from proprietary computer systems. This would prevent OS
makers from gaining unfair advantages by having lots of
pre-installed systems in stores. This would in turn give OS makers
a greater incentive to make installation a breeze. So if we allow
only proprietary systems to have pre-installed operating systems,
Macintosh computers would be able to have Mac OS pre-installed.
Likewise, if Microsoft decided to get into the hardware game and
release a computer system that would only run Windows (their dream
come true!), that would also be allowed.”
“So all in all, I think that computer diversity would just make
everything turn a rosy hue. Those who are in the know, tell your
friends and family about all of the benefits and drawbacks of your
favorite operating systems. Don’t buy the computer system you feel
like you have to use. Buy the one you really, truly, want. And
someday, maybe instead of seeing ‘made for Microsoft Windows’ on
everything, we’ll see ‘made to work on all systems.’ “