[AkBKukU]

I am deeply steeped in the history of computers and the biggest three things I can point to as the reason (MS-)DOS won are:

- Licensing: Most computers either had custom operating systems that were not shared with other hardware vendors, or in the case of BASIC frequently, were licensed themselves.

- IBM letting the genie out: The BIOS on the IBM PC 5150 was cloned, quickly and legally, and other companies started making compatibles. This caused an explosion of computer variety in a few short years for a single platform.

- Microsoft: DOS usually means "Microsoft DOS", Microsoft also was responsible for many of the BASIC environments of early systems as well. The ability to buy your OS from someone else lowered the pressure on hardware makers. IBM also favoured Micorsoft's DOS over CP/M-86 and stopped supporting it quickly.

All this meant the PC compatible ecosystem with Microsoft DOS became easy to make from a hardware side, and lacked a single point of failure like Apple, Radio Shack, Commodore. Atari, etc. There were other MS-DOS compatible DOS's out there, but MS-DOS was usually the one shipped with computers to be as "IBM compatible" as they possibly could and gained dominance through that.

EDIT: To those who may not be aware, BASIC did become more OS like before going away. HP BASIC was extremely feature packed before HP-UX replaced it and was more capable than MS-DOS in many ways. It evolved far beyond just a programming language.

[tcbawo]

> This caused an explosion of computer variety in a few short years for a single platform.

The impact of this point can not be overstated. 99% of businesses make a much larger investment in software (and people!) than hardware. The idea that compatible hardware systems existed was a great hedge on their investment in software and training. For most businesses, this would be a no-brainer!

Over a short time, other propietary/non-compatible systems were relegated to home use, education, and gaming.