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The doctor went straight to his own Windows hardware guru, Al Fasoldt's brother Bob.
 technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

D r .   G i z m o
Microsoft and Apple: Was anything stolen? DVD burning tips for Windows


July 7, 2004


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2004, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2004, The Post-Standard

   A rumor I heard went something like this: Windows as we know it would not exist if Apple had not "allowed" Microsoft to use the idea of the Mac operating system. I'm referring to the original Mac OS. I suppose my use of the word license might be off. If Apple did allow Microsoft to use the Mac OS (the idea of it) as a base for Windows, wouldn't you think that Apple would be receiving royalties for that? Or what if Microsoft just simply stole the idea. Wouldn't there have been a lawsuit? -- E.P., via adelphia.net
   The doctor has heard the same tale. It's what's called an Urban Legend -- a story that is told and retold so often it becomes accepted as true. Here's the real story:
   Apple Computer Corp. and Microsoft were each working on new operating systems in the early 1980s.
   In the mid-'80s. Apple introduced Lisa and Macintosh, two radically different computers that were based on operating systems that used graphical representations of literally everything the computers did.
   Shortly afterward, Microsoft introduced Windows. The first two versions of Windows are largely forgotten today (for good reason, the doc thinks, since they were awful), but Windows 3.0 and 3.1 became immensely popular within a few years.
   Microsoft borrowed ideas from Apple's Lisa and Mac operating systems -- one could hardly make a computer work with a mouse, windows and icons without doing a little borrowing from the brilliant Apple designs -- but it's not true that Microsoft signed agreements to pay for the use of any part of Apple's interface.
   Anyone who has seen Windows 1.0 and Windows 2.0 will sense immediately that Microsoft had no clue about how a graphical interface should look and behave. Changes in Windows 3.0 and 3.1 came about not because Microsoft was copying Apple but because it saw how Apple did things with the Mac and knew that it had to change Windows to be competitive.
   
   I've got a Windows 98 PC and a Windows XP computer. I've been trying to make my images into a slide show that can be viewed on the TV. My first try was with Roxio 5 then I went to 6. I got all the updates they had and I succeeded to make my DVD. It worked on TV but Windows XP does not like it. After working with Roxio the troubles with XP got worse. So I dumped Roxio and did a restart with a much earlier Registry. My problems are gone. Now I'm trying to find software that will work without creating problems. -- T.H., via Road Runner
   The doctor has heard many horror stories about what happens when Roxio's CD burner software is installed on Windows XP. Even the doc's wife has a dead CD burner because of the Roxio-XP combination on her secondary computer, a Windows PC. (She uses a modern iMac, thus ensuring family harmony, normally.)
   So the doctor went straight to his own Windows hardware guru, Al Fasoldt's brother Bob. Here's Bob's answer:
   Roxio 5 is entirely incompatible with Windows XP. Roxio 6 is compatible as long as you do a custom installation and DO NOT install the Roxio packet writing software (I believe they call it DirectCD). Just install the Roxio 6 modules you need and you'll find that it works well for you. Roxio 6 will allow you to place your photos on either a CD or DVD to play in your set top DVD player. Here's a link to Roxio's support center: www.roxio.com/en/support/ecddvdvc/index.jhtml
   
   Dr. Gizmo has many brothers. You can send a family tree or just a letter to the doctor or his pal at Technology, Box 4915, Syracuse, NY 13221. Or send e-mail to afasoldt@twcny.rr.com.