<s>
VisiCorp	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
was	O
a	O
short-lived	O
but	O
influential	O
graphical	O
user	O
interface-based	O
operating	B-Application
environment	I-Application
program	O
for	O
IBM	O
compatible	O
personal	B-Device
computers	I-Device
running	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
was	O
never	O
popular	O
,	O
as	O
it	O
had	O
steep	O
minimum	O
system	O
requirements	O
for	O
its	O
day	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
a	O
major	O
influence	O
on	O
the	O
later	O
development	O
of	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
spring	O
of	O
1981	O
,	O
Personal	O
Software	O
was	O
cash-flush	O
from	O
the	O
ever-increasing	O
sales	O
of	O
VisiCalc	B-Application
,	O
and	O
the	O
corporate	O
directors	O
sat	O
down	O
and	O
planned	O
out	O
their	O
future	O
directions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
,	O
to	O
use	O
VisiPlot	O
with	O
VisiCalc	B-Application
data	O
,	O
the	O
numbers	O
to	O
be	O
plotted	O
had	O
to	O
be	O
exported	O
in	O
a	O
"	O
raw	O
"	O
format	O
and	O
then	O
re-imported	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
was	O
universal	O
data	O
exchange	O
,	O
which	O
would	O
be	O
supported	O
by	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
common	O
data	B-General_Concept
structures	I-General_Concept
used	O
in	O
all	O
of	O
their	O
programs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Finally	O
,	O
Fylstra	O
was	O
concerned	O
that	O
the	O
time	O
needed	O
to	O
move	O
from	O
one	O
program	O
to	O
another	O
was	O
too	O
long	O
to	O
be	O
useful	O
–	O
a	O
user	O
needing	O
to	O
quickly	O
look	O
something	O
up	O
in	O
VisiDex	O
would	O
have	O
to	O
save	O
and	O
exit	O
VisiCalc	B-Application
,	O
look	O
up	O
the	O
information	O
,	O
and	O
then	O
quit	O
that	O
and	O
re-launch	O
VisiCalc	B-Application
again	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
1981	O
,	O
Xerox	O
announced	O
the	O
Xerox	B-Operating_System
Star	I-Operating_System
,	O
an	O
advanced	O
workstation	B-Device
computer	I-Device
featuring	O
a	O
graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
,	O
and	O
by	O
that	O
point	O
it	O
was	O
a	O
well	O
known	O
"	O
secret	O
"	O
that	O
Apple	O
Computer	O
was	O
working	O
on	O
a	O
low-cost	O
computer	O
with	O
a	O
GUI	B-Application
(	O
graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
)	O
that	O
would	O
later	O
be	O
released	O
as	O
the	O
Apple	B-Device
Lisa	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Personal	O
Software	O
's	O
president	O
,	O
Terry	O
Opdendyk	O
,	O
knew	O
of	O
a	O
two-man	O
team	O
in	O
Texas	O
that	O
was	O
working	O
on	O
a	O
GUI	B-Application
,	O
and	O
arranged	O
for	O
Scott	O
Warren	O
and	O
Dennis	O
Abbe	O
to	O
visit	O
Personal	O
Software	O
's	O
headquarters	O
in	O
Sunnyvale	O
,	O
California	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
demonstrated	O
a	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
Smalltalk	B-Application
programming	I-Application
language	I-Application
running	O
on	O
the	O
TRS-80	B-Device
microcomputer	O
,	O
a	O
seriously	O
underpowered	O
machine	O
for	O
the	O
task	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
was	O
shortly	O
thereafter	O
changed	O
to	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
,	O
a	O
play	O
on	O
"	O
vision	O
"	O
that	O
retained	O
their	O
"	O
Visi	O
"	O
naming	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
experimental	O
port	O
to	O
the	O
ill-fated	O
Apple	B-Device
III	I-Device
was	O
completed	O
in	O
November	O
,	O
and	O
after	O
that	O
,	O
development	O
work	O
shifted	O
to	O
the	O
DEC	B-Device
VAX	I-Device
,	O
which	O
had	O
cross-compilers	B-Application
for	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
different	O
machines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
early	O
1982	O
Personal	O
Software	O
changed	O
their	O
name	O
to	O
VisiCorp	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
betting	O
much	O
of	O
the	O
future	O
success	O
of	O
the	O
company	O
on	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
had	O
many	O
features	O
of	O
a	O
modern	O
GUI	B-Application
,	O
and	O
included	O
a	O
few	O
that	O
did	O
not	O
become	O
common	O
until	O
many	O
years	O
later	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
fully	O
mouse-driven	O
,	O
used	O
a	O
bit-mapped	B-Algorithm
display	O
for	O
both	O
text	O
and	O
graphics	O
,	O
included	O
on-line	B-Protocol
help	I-Protocol
,	O
and	O
allowed	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
open	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
programs	O
at	O
once	O
,	O
each	O
in	O
its	O
own	O
window	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
did	O
not	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
include	O
a	O
graphical	O
file	B-Application
manager	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
also	O
demanded	O
a	O
hard	B-Device
drive	I-Device
in	O
order	O
to	O
implement	O
its	O
virtual	B-Architecture
memory	I-Architecture
system	O
used	O
for	O
"	O
fast	O
switching	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
hard	B-Device
drives	I-Device
were	O
a	O
very	O
expensive	O
piece	O
of	O
equipment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
viewers	O
had	O
to	O
be	O
told	O
it	O
was	O
not	O
simply	O
a	O
movie	O
they	O
were	O
watching	O
,	O
and	O
Bill	O
Gates	O
speculated	O
that	O
the	O
PC	O
was	O
in	O
fact	O
simply	O
a	O
terminal	O
for	O
a	O
"	O
real	O
"	O
machine	O
like	O
a	O
VAX	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
development	O
continued	O
,	O
VisiCorp	O
as	O
an	O
entity	O
was	O
in	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
self-destruction	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
late	O
1981	O
to	O
the	O
eventual	O
release	O
of	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
,	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
product	O
management	O
of	O
the	O
company	O
left	O
,	O
notably	O
Mitch	O
Kapor	O
in	O
charge	O
of	O
VisiCalc	B-Application
development	O
,	O
Ed	O
Esber	O
,	O
Roy	O
Folk	O
,	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
's	O
product	O
marketing	O
manager	O
,	O
among	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kapor	O
,	O
developer	O
of	O
VisiPlot	O
and	O
VisiTrend	O
,	O
had	O
been	O
pressing	O
for	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
a	O
greatly	O
improved	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
to	O
succeed	O
VisiCalc	B-Application
,	O
but	O
Opdendyk	O
was	O
uninterested	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
during	O
a	O
time	O
when	O
VisiCorp	O
and	O
VisiCalc	B-Application
's	O
developers	O
were	O
at	O
an	O
impasse	O
,	O
and	O
VisiCalc	B-Application
was	O
growing	O
increasingly	O
outdated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
Kapor	O
decided	O
to	O
leave	O
,	O
the	O
other	O
executives	O
pressed	O
for	O
a	O
clause	O
forbidding	O
Kapor	O
to	O
work	O
on	O
an	O
"	O
integrated	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
"	O
,	O
but	O
Opdendyk	O
could	O
n't	O
be	O
bothered	O
,	O
exclaiming	O
Kapor	O
is	O
a	O
spaghetti	O
programmer	O
,	O
denigrating	O
his	O
abilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kapor	O
would	O
go	O
on	O
to	O
release	O
Lotus	B-Application
1-2-3	I-Application
,	O
which	O
became	O
a	O
major	O
competitor	O
to	O
VisiCalc	B-Application
in	O
1983	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Combined	O
with	O
the	O
exodus	O
of	O
major	O
portions	O
of	O
the	O
senior	O
executive	O
staff	O
and	O
the	O
ongoing	O
battle	O
with	O
VisiCalc	B-Application
's	O
developers	O
,	O
VisiCorp	O
was	O
soon	O
in	O
serious	O
financial	O
difficulty	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
hopes	O
for	O
the	O
company	O
's	O
future	O
were	O
placed	O
on	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
October	O
31	O
,	O
1983	O
InfoWorld	O
,	O
in	O
an	O
article	O
titled	O
,	O
"	O
Finally	O
,	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
is	O
here	O
,	O
"	O
flatly	O
stated	O
:	O
"	O
the	O
...	O
publisher	O
is	O
putting	O
the	O
product	O
on	O
computer	O
store	O
shelves	O
...	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
was	O
scheduled	O
to	O
be	O
available	O
during	O
the	O
last	O
week	O
in	O
October	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
July	O
2	O
,	O
1984	O
issue	O
says	O
:	O
"	O
By	O
the	O
time	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
was	O
actually	O
shipped	O
on	O
December	O
16	O
,	O
1983	O
,...	O
"	O
and	O
PC	O
Magazine	O
reported	O
in	O
the	O
February	O
7	O
,	O
1984	O
issue	O
that	O
they	O
still	O
had	O
n't	O
received	O
the	O
product	O
in	O
its	O
commercially	O
available	O
form	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
,	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
Applications	B-Application
Manager	I-Application
,	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
December	O
1983	O
and	O
sold	O
for	O
$495	O
,	O
requiring	O
a	O
mouse	B-Device
for	O
another	O
$250	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
main	O
disadvantage	O
of	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
was	O
its	O
extremely	O
high	O
system	O
requirements	O
by	O
1982	O
standards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
needed	O
512	O
kilobytes	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
and	O
a	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
at	O
a	O
time	O
when	O
PCs	B-Device
shipped	O
with	O
64k-128k	O
and	O
IBM	O
did	O
not	O
yet	O
offer	O
a	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
with	O
the	O
PC	O
(	O
IBM	O
's	O
first	O
model	O
with	O
a	O
hard	B-Device
drive	I-Device
,	O
the	O
PC	B-Device
XT	I-Device
,	O
did	O
n't	O
ship	O
until	O
March	O
1983	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Third-party	O
drives	O
were	O
however	O
available	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
typically	O
5MB	O
units	O
that	O
connected	O
to	O
the	O
floppy	O
controller	O
and	O
were	O
treated	O
by	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
as	O
an	O
oversized	O
floppy	O
disk	O
(	O
there	O
was	O
no	O
subdirectory	O
support	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
brought	O
the	O
total	O
cost	O
of	O
running	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
to	O
$7500	O
,	O
three-quarters	O
the	O
cost	O
of	O
the	O
Apple	B-Device
Lisa	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
press	O
continued	O
to	O
laud	O
the	O
product	O
,	O
going	O
so	O
far	O
as	O
to	O
claim	O
it	O
represented	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
market	O
where	O
computers	O
were	O
generally	O
used	O
for	O
only	O
one	O
or	O
two	O
tasks	O
,	O
usually	O
business	O
related	O
,	O
the	O
whole	O
purpose	O
of	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
was	O
seriously	O
diluted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
January	O
1984	O
,	O
Apple	O
Computer	O
released	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
with	O
much	O
fanfare	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
was	O
seriously	O
lacking	O
software	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
faster	O
,	O
cheaper	O
,	O
and	O
included	O
one	O
feature	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
lacked	O
:	O
a	O
graphical	O
file	B-Application
manager	I-Application
(	O
the	O
Finder	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
it	O
did	O
n't	O
compete	O
directly	O
with	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
,	O
which	O
was	O
really	O
a	O
"	O
PC	O
product	O
"	O
,	O
it	O
nevertheless	O
demonstrated	O
that	O
a	O
GUI	B-Application
could	O
indeed	O
be	O
fast	O
and	O
relatively	O
inexpensive	O
,	O
both	O
of	O
which	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
failed	O
to	O
deliver	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Adding	O
to	O
the	O
release	O
's	O
problems	O
was	O
Bill	O
Gates	O
,	O
who	O
took	O
a	O
page	O
from	O
VisiCorp	O
's	O
book	O
and	O
announced	O
that	O
their	O
own	O
product	O
,	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
would	O
be	O
available	O
in	O
May	O
1984	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
muddied	O
the	O
waters	O
significantly	O
,	O
notably	O
when	O
he	O
further	O
claimed	O
it	O
would	O
have	O
a	O
similar	O
feature	O
set	O
,	O
did	O
n't	O
require	O
a	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
,	O
and	O
cost	O
only	O
$250	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	O
was	O
released	O
with	O
an	O
even	O
longer	O
delay	O
than	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
,	O
shipping	O
in	O
November	O
1985	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
lacking	O
the	O
features	O
that	O
forced	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
to	O
demand	O
a	O
hard	B-Device
drive	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Only	O
eight	O
VisiCorp	O
employees	O
were	O
still	O
developing	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
when	O
VisiCorp	O
sold	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
to	O
Control	O
Data	O
in	O
mid-1984	O
to	O
raise	O
cash	O
as	O
it	O
sued	O
Software	O
Arts	O
,	O
while	O
continuing	O
to	O
sell	O
the	O
software	O
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
improved	O
the	O
situation	O
somewhat	O
,	O
but	O
sales	O
were	O
still	O
far	O
below	O
projections	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
was	O
certainly	O
not	O
helping	O
the	O
company	O
stave	O
off	O
the	O
problems	O
due	O
to	O
Lotus	B-Application
1-2-3	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
declining	O
VisiCalc	B-Application
sales	O
and	O
low	O
revenues	O
from	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
,	O
in	O
November	O
1985	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
merged	O
with	O
Paladin	O
Software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Official	O
system	O
requirements	O
for	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
were	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
will	O
work	O
on	O
newer	O
PCs	B-Device
,	O
but	O
requires	O
a	O
compatible	O
mouse	B-Device
and	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
partition	O
under	O
15MB	O
as	O
only	O
the	O
FAT12	B-Application
file	O
system	O
is	O
supported	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
as	O
it	O
revectors	O
some	O
IRQs	B-General_Concept
used	O
by	O
PC/ATs	O
and	O
later	O
,	O
VISIONXT.EXE	O
requires	O
modifications	O
which	O
prevent	O
Graph	O
and	O
other	O
applications	O
from	O
functioning	O
properly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
required	O
Mouse	B-Device
Systems-compatible	O
mice	O
;	O
Microsoft-compatible	O
PC	O
mice	O
,	O
which	O
over	O
time	O
became	O
the	O
standard	O
,	O
were	O
introduced	O
later	O
(	O
in	O
May	O
1983	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
used	O
two	O
mouse	B-Application
drivers	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
First	O
,	O
loaded	O
in	O
text	B-Application
mode	I-Application
,	O
made	O
mouse	B-Device
registers	O
accessible	O
to	O
the	O
embedded	O
driver	O
,	O
which	O
translated	O
coordinates	O
to	O
cursor	O
position	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
internal	O
driver	O
,	O
built-in	O
as	O
a	O
subroutine	O
into	O
VISIONXT.EXE	O
,	O
required	O
Mouse	B-Device
Systems	O
PC-Mouse	O
pointing	O
device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
not	O
compatible	O
with	O
the	O
Microsoft	B-Device
Mouse	I-Device
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Writing	O
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
applications	O
required	O
a	O
Unix	B-Application
development	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
was	O
targeted	O
toward	O
high-end	O
(	O
expensive	O
)	O
PC	O
workstations	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visi	B-Application
On	I-Application
applications	O
were	O
written	O
in	O
a	O
subset	O
of	O
C	B-Language
VisiC	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
third-party	O
could	O
have	O
ported	O
the	O
core	O
software	O
(	O
VisiHost	O
,	O
VisiMachine	O
virtual	B-Architecture
machine	I-Architecture
,	O
VISIONXT.EXE	O
in	O
IBM	B-Operating_System
PC	I-Operating_System
DOS	I-Operating_System
version	O
)	O
to	O
Unix	B-Application
,	O
but	O
that	O
never	O
occurred	O
.	O
</s>
