IBM exec Garry Norris yesterday detailed a Microsoft campaign to throttle OS/2 in the run-up to the launch of Windows 95. IBM and other PC companies, including Compaq, were threatened with higher prices if they shipped rival products as well as Windows.
Norris, program director for software strategies with the IBM PC Co, was involved in extensive negotiations over IBM's Windows licensing deals from early 1995 until 95's launch that August. Microsoft was obviously playing hardball, as Norris claims that that IBM didn't get its final deal until 15 minutes before the launch. An $8 price reduction, he said, was secured for "exclusion of OS2 and expedited shipments of Windows 95." Other manufacturers, including Compaq, agreed not to sell OS/2 after Microsoft threats, said Norris. This is not of course strictly correct, as OS/2 was available from various PC companies, Compaq included. But it wasn't always that easy to obtain, so Norris may be right in some senses.
Entire article can be found here.
Source: The Register