http://www.proudlyserving.com/archives/2005/08/dos_aint_done_t.html

(comment)
Posted by: Daniel at August 2, 2005 09:17 AM

I believe that my first encounter with the phrase 'DOS isn't done until Lotus won't run' was in a column by John Dvorak of PC Magazine. This article makes a good point, and one could be convinced that it is the whole story. One thing that isn't mentioned is that Microsoft had a competing product (actually, more than one) for Lotus 1-2-3 in the 1980s which needed to gain a foothold in the industry. This need for Microsoft's spreadsheet (and other 'office applications') to gain acceptance and adoption in the marketplace is a prime motivator for nefarious action by Microsoft. After all, if Lotus 1-2-3 doesn't work, there IS a product that will work with your copy of DOS 5 Mr. Customer....I'd like to introduce Excel....it has a full emulation of Lotus 1-2-3 functionality - your users won't know the difference, except Excel works perfectly in DOS 5, unlike *ahem* Lotus.

One need only ask the question: "Do you know anyone who uses Lotus 1-2-3 today?" Excel has so completely crushed any and all competition that it is the defacto standard spreadsheet in the computing industry for both the Mac and PC platforms. To be fair, Microsoft gained this position from Lotus because it had a superior product in the version for Windows 3.x - the real point is how Microsoft was able to so quickly produce a superior Windows-based product in comparison to its main competition. Anyone who has paid attention to the antitrust litigation, or read "World War 3.0" is familiar with how Microsoft has used it internal knowledge of OS APIs to develop and deploy new products in the Windows environment in an unfair manner.