The Land Before Linux: The Unix desktops
Way back in 1993, I oversaw a PC Magazine feature review on Unix desktops. Yes, that's right, before I was a Linux desktop user, I was a Unix user. Indeed, I've been a Unix fan since 1979, when 2BSD Unix arrived on the scene. But by 1993, numerous Unix desktops had appeared, and I talked the magazine into letting me kick their tires.
My team and I reviewed Unix distros from Consensys, Dell, Interactive Unix, SCO, Univel, Sun, and NeXT. We also looked at but didn't review Unixes from UHC, Microport, and other companies. I guarantee many of you have ever heard of them.
Update
More here:
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Microsoft did not kill Unix
IT pundit Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols says it was not Microsoft’s evil business deals of the 1990s that killed off Unix but the Unix companies themselves.
Vaughan-Nichols said that as important as its dodgy business deals were for its success, Microsoft didn’t have to cheat to win. The Unix companies did a great job of killing themselves off.
They fought over Unix software standards for Unix that were too vague, such as the Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) – or they got stuck in the business fights between the Open Systems Foundation and Unix International, which became known as the Unix wars.
While the Unix companies were tearing each other apart, Vole was laughing all the way to the bank.