While to all other people, it is indeed 2012, and Microsoft is on the verge of releasing Windows 8.
- Which was preceded by Windows 7 in July 2009,
- Which was preceded by Windows Vista in November 2006,
- Preceded by Windows XP in August 2001,
- Preceded by Windows ME in September 2000,
- Preceded by Windows 98 SE in May 1999,
- Preceded by Windows 98 in June 1998, which was the Windows OS that succeeded Windows 95,- August 1995.
In between all these OS releases were several service packs and other upgrades and enhancements.
However to Novell, which bought WordPerfect – which it has since sold to Corel, time hasn’t moved at all.
Novell has been suing Microsoft for nearly two decades for the failure of WordPerfect to deliver a GUI version of its eponymous product for Windows 95 back in 1995.
According to this report,
A federal judge dismissed the final legal claims Monday by a Utah company that sued Microsoft Corp. for $1 billion over the WordPerfect writing program.
U.S. District Judge Frederick Motz ruled that Novell has no viable claims left after losing an eight-week trial against Microsoft in Salt Lake City last year.
Microsoft believes the ruling spells an end to the case. Novell says it will appeal.
The Provo-based company believes it was left behind in the Windows 95 juggernaut by a last-minute technical change Microsoft made to protect the operating system from outside software code.
Motz ruled Novell could have worked around the problem but gave it little priority or effort and had a "mass exodus of programmers" when it was under pressure to rework its office software for the new operating system.
"If as Novell now argues, the 90-day period after the release of Windows 95 was critical to the success of WordPerfect, Quattro Pro, and PerfectOffice, Novell could have released those products using Microsoft's common file open dialog," said Motz, referring to another tool Microsoft let outside developers use.
Motz said the case produced no evidence that Novell ever complained to Microsoft about the problem. Novell has since asserted that Microsoft duped it into developing one WordPerfect version before pulling the plug, letting Microsoft leapfrog ahead with market share for its own products.
It’s a fascinating read.
Ask any of the folks in IT today if they have ever heard of WordPerfect, and they’ll tell you yes: it was their father’s Oldsmobile word processor. A relic they would NEVER dream of using!
Hopefully, Novell exits their stasis tube, and stops making their lawyers unnecessarily wealthy.
© 2005 – 2012, John Obeto II for Blackground Media Unlimited
