>Remember when Microsoft actually gave us that line (with different versions of Windows) about VFP? Originally VFP was touted as a cross-platform tool for DOS, Windows, Unix, and the Mac. Then they dumped the Unix and Mac versions, yet continued to promote it as "cross-platform" -- Windows 98, Windows 2000, etc. Definitely one of their Alice in Wonderland moments ("It means precisely what I say it means. No more, no less.")

Well, how many times have we read here a phrase "different OSes", when it actually meant "different Windowses"? Even to the extent that there were statements like "every OS will" - when actually only Windowses will. For example, "every OS will erase other OSes from the MBR when installed" - which becomes true if you say "every version of Windows since W95 and NT3.x".

This linguistic trick of taking "OS = Windows" as if there was a == in there, and as if this worked both ways, is just what it is, no more no less - a trick. It doesn't work both ways for all cases:

- first versions of the Windows, up to ME, were just add-ons that ran under DOS 7; they weren't OSes per se, they were GUIs which ran in DOS. NT3.x, NT4, and later - that can count as an OS.

- there are so many OSes out there which are not Windowses.