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“Before the PC, all software tended to be custom, written for and tied to a specific hardware platform. For example, IBM software ran only on IBM machines and Hewlett-Packard (HP) software on HP machines. Bill Gates and Microsoft untethered software from hardware, instead creating software that could run on almost any brand of PC. This simple idea dramatically expanded the market for Microsoft software, enabling it to drive prices down by spreading development cost across millions of potential customers (compared to only thousands for traditional hardware-specific programs). It was a risky idea because it put Microsoft at odds with hardware giants like IBM. But Microsoft bet big and won, helping spark a Big Bang of inexpensive, prepackaged, off-the-shelf software and the modern software industry.” source...