Microsoft Unveiling Software Designed To Make Better Use of Intel 80386 Chip

Microsoft Unveiling Software Designed To Make Better Use of Intel 80386 Chip

By Brenton R. Schlender, Staff Reporter
The Wall Street Journal

September 23, 1987

Microsoft Corp. will introduce today a software product that will enable personal computers built around Intel Corp.'s state-of-the-art 80386 microprocessor to run several programs simultaneously.

The Redmond, Wash., software maker's new product, called Windows 386, also incorporates the same "look and feel" on the screen that International Business Machines Corp. plans to use in its new, PS/2 family of computers beginning next year.

Currently, more than a dozen companies, including IBM, Compaq Computer Corp. and Tandy Corp. use the 80386 chip as the "brains" of high-performance personal computers. Such computers, priced at $4,000 to $10,000, are aimed at so-called power users who crave speedier machines.

"Windows 386 allows people to benefit from having a 386 machine today," says Steven Ballmer, Microsoft's vice president, systems software, who supervised the development of the program. "This is the first mainstream product that takes unique advantages of that microprocessor."

Priced at about $200, Windows 386 works in conjunction with MS-DOS, the operating system also provided by Microsoft for IBM-compatible personal computers. With the MS-DOS system, which manages the computer's inner workings, Windows 386 helps the computer create, in effect, several separate computers within one machine, each sharing the microprocessor but running its own program. In that way a user could, say, type a memo while another program is recalculating a spreadsheet, while yet another program is calling out for some stock price quotations. Before now, that hasn't been possible on personal computers.

Just how many programs can be run at once using the new software depends on the memory capacity of the personal computer. The average would be at least a half a dozen, though.

"Windows 386 gives distinct benefit beyond sheer speed to users of 386 machines," said Michael Swavely, vice president, marketing for Houston-based Compaq. Compaq plans to give away a copy of the new program with each Deskpro 386 machine it sells for the rest of the year. Compaq, which about a year ago was the first major company to introduce personal computers incorporating the 80386, helped Microsoft come up with Windows 386.

In national over-the-counter trading yesterday, Microsoft closed at $57.25, up $3.75.

While it isn't an operating system per se, Windows 386 gives a hint of what may be in store with a new, long-awaited operating system that is being worked on jointly by Microsoft and IBM for use with other high-performance IBM-compatible machines. Mainly, Windows 386 and the operating system, called OS/2, share the same on-screen appearance.

The OS/2 will give machines based on Intel's older 80286 microprocessor -- such as IBM's PC-AT or many of its new PS/2 machines -- the ability to handle more than one program at a time. OS/2 also will allow groups of personal computers to share the same programs and data simultaneously.

There is one drawback, though: OS/2 will be able to run only one of the previous-generation MS/DOS programs at a time, just as current machines do. Consequently, to take full advantage of the new features, computer users will have to buy new, souped-up versions of their existing applications programs. Applications programs provide specific tasks, such as word processing, spreadsheets or data bases.

Microsoft and IBM have promised to begin shipping parts of OS/2 early next year, with new applications programs to follow. The companies also eventually will adapt OS/2 to run on the newer, more powerful 80386 machines without any limitations on the number of MS/DOS programs.

For now, however, Windows 386 represents "a commitment to both the future and the past," said Tim Bajarin, an analyst for Creative Strategies Inc., a Santa Clara, Calif.-based market research firm. "This product recognizes that there's a lot of life left in the old, MS-DOS applications. But it also validates the importance of the new 386 machines."

Windows 386 is the latest incarnation of what has been a frustrating product line for Microsoft. The brainchild of Microsoft's chairman, William H. Gates III, Windows was first announced in 1983. At the time, Mr. Gates hoped it would bring to IBM-compatible personal computers the snazzy graphics and the easier, more uniform method of handling programs that have proven so popular on Apple Computer Inc.'s Macintosh computer.

Initially promised for delivery in April 1984, Windows wasn't shipped to customers until November 1985. Then, customers were slow to embrace the product, though Microsoft soon was able to sell more than a million copies. One problem was that the program was annoyingly slow on earlier, low-powered computers. In addition, applications programs had to be rejiggered to take advantage of Windows, something many software developers chose not to do, also being slow to accept the new product.

Now, however, "there's a lot of momentum behind Windows," Microsoft's Mr. Ballmer asserted, as more applications developers write their programs to use Windows. To tap that momentum, Microsoft next month will introduce a new version of Windows for less-powerful machines, called Version 2.0.

Another version of Windows will be incorporated into the new Microsoft-IBM OS/2 operating system. Because of that additional usage, Mr. Ballmer said, it is only a matter of time before Windows becomes what he calls "the standard user interface" for high-performance IBM-compatible computers.

In the meantime, however, Windows 386 will make already confusing purchase decisions that much tougher. Customers will have to weigh whether to opt for the expensive 80386 machines now to get the new features, or to wait another year for OS/2 and new applications programs -- which also will be expensive -- to bring even more powerful features to less-expensive 80286-based personal computers.

But, says Compaq's Mr. Swavely, "Microsoft is in the wonderful position of making money regardless of which one you choose."