Microsoft · Apple · retrocoding.net
Windows API Is Successful Cross-Platform API
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While doing Windows Retrocoding, the reporter uses CrossOver to test their programs on macOS.
Key facts
- Windows 95 is the beginning of 32-bit computing for Microsoft, and the API is being upgraded to cater to 32-bit computing
- Microsoft has done a good job taking care of their ISV (Independent Software Vendors) by building Visual Studio, a remarkable programming IDE and forming MSDN, Microsoft Developer Network
- The first Windows SDK fits in seven 400KB diskettes and has only two headers: STYLE.H and WINDOWS.H. The Windows.h header was only 2000+ lines of code
- Dynamic Data Exchange, for example, evolved to COM, which was then branded as OLE and OLE Automation
Summary
You might find the title a little bit odd. The keyword here is iterate. In the real world, the internet is TCP/IP, and it's TCP IP that runs on computers, phones, and other devices. A successful standard is driven by pragmatism. This standard came from the need to standardise API across UNIX variants and clones. The reason they're implementing POSIX is because of the rich ecosystem it offers. Apple took this path when they built Darwin, the kernel of macOS, or previously NeXTStep. NeXT built their kernel by combining Mach and BSD code and then used GCC as its compiler of choice.