Greed is a lousy sobrquiet to use here. DOS on an 8086 is a lot like the AK47. It's simple, you can take it apart blindfolded and it always fired. DOS was the substrate; everything else ( even the really bad stuff ) was ultimately gravy.
This was a hugely populist technology.
Gates identified a principle - software is inherently property - that was lying around unused. He built a big company out of that. Computers became mainstream.
If anything, Wintel stuff probably accelerated the progress of other architectures by the sheer increase in the size of the market.
I, too mourn some of the casualties, but an Amiga was 8 months house payment whilst my first 286 was only 3 or 4.
This was a hugely populist technology.
Gates identified a principle - software is inherently property - that was lying around unused. He built a big company out of that. Computers became mainstream.
If anything, Wintel stuff probably accelerated the progress of other architectures by the sheer increase in the size of the market.
I, too mourn some of the casualties, but an Amiga was 8 months house payment whilst my first 286 was only 3 or 4.