SQL Server is a fork of Sybase. Not a MS invention.

Active Directory is probably based on someone's LDAP server, though I don't know for sure.

.NET is a copy of Java

NT kernel is good, thank Digital/Dave Cutler for that.

> SQL Server is a fork of Sybase. Not a MS invention.

It's long-since been rewritten. Pre-SQL Server 2000 it was garbage, but it's been improved significantly since then. I'd still use alternatives given the choice, but it's a solid DB.

>Active Directory is probably based on someone's LDAP server, though I don't know for sure.

So you don't know. It was written in house, using a bunch of standardized protocols (LDAP, X.500, kerberos), though with proprietary extensions (GPOs, etc).

> .NET is a copy of Java

That's a gross oversimplification. It's arguably a rip-off after MS tried to sabotage java, but it's their own implementation.

> NT kernel is good, thank Digital/Dave Cutler for that.

Yes, MS hired an experienced OS person for it. Probably one of the best things they ever did.

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I'm not saying MS deserves kudos or the benefit of the doubt, but they can put out good software, and these are all mission-critical examples of what they have to (having AD go down would bring a whole corporation to a halt). The problem is that with almost everything else, MS has the incentive and capability to ruin. And ruin they do...

NT, SQL, AD is good. It's the schizophrenic management in the last 20 years that has messed it up.