The God of Coding, Becoming an IT Conglomerate

25. complete. Kronos!

Early April 1989.

The original members of Hangeul and People and the key developers of Chronos sat huddled together with a computer in between.

“ruler. Now boot up.”

It was to watch the test booting of the finally completed Kronos.

Kim Jin-taek pressed the computer’s power button.

ugh-

There was a sound of the fan running, and everyone held their breath and looked at the monitor.

For a very short time, only the sound of the computer and the colorful breathing echoed inside the office.

pat-

Finally, something appeared on the screen.

The dell computer logo appeared in blue letters on a white background.

No one has responded yet.

The screen a moment ago is just the dell logo planted in the bios, not the operating system.

and after a few seconds

“uh···. do. done!”

Lee Jin-chan looked at the screen and shouted.

The word CRONOS was floating on the screen in fancy font.

The eyes of the seniors began to be colored with joy.

However, Hoyeong was still staring at the monitor with her arms crossed and a serious face.

“Go over, go over… done!”

“Good!”

“Yes!!”

In the end, the screen of the monitor succeeded to go over to the desktop.

They hugged each other and shouted cheers, and Hoyoung also clapped his hands with a smile and liked it.

“How about mouse movement? Does the keyboard work?”

“Absolutely normal! Both are perfect. Clicking and double-clicking all work fine.”

“It’s still too early to like it.”

“Right. We are still in the process of testing and debugging.”

They were delighted, but not relaxed.

This is because testing and debugging work for possible bugs remain.

Considering the size of the program, the test period was decided to be ample until the end of April.

The Hangeul and People members shared a moment of joy, then went back to each other’s seats.

It’s not over until it’s over.

and on April 27, 1989.

Hoyoung’s phone caught fire.

The owners of the bokdeok room, who did not know how they knew it, called whenever they were bored, and in particular, the owner of the bokdeok room in Seongnam, where Hoyeong had a side dish, called five or six times a day to annoy Hoyeong.

– president! The land the boss bought the other day…

“I know even if you don’t say anything. I read the newspaper too.”

– I knew it would turn out like this… This is not important, people who want to buy it now are lined up.

“We are not selling yet. Do not call forward. If you are willing to sell, I will contact you.”

Hoyoung firmly hung up.

The land for the new city designated by the state will be set up with land compensation compensated by the state.

Right after the announcement, land prices around the area skyrocketed within a few months.

‘There is nothing urgent.’

I decided to take some time to deal with the land.

As for the land compensation issue, even if Ho-yeong stays still, other land owners will continue to negotiate and protest and raise the price, and the price of the surrounding land will continue to skyrocket for the next 10 years.

Cash was not urgent, so there was no need to dispose of it now.

‘The land is not important right now.’

The price of land would continue to rise anyway.

Now, more important things were at hand.

“Director Yoon Ho-young. Everyone is gathered now.”

“yes. I will go out.”

Today was the day when Hoyeong and the Kronos production team completed the final finishing work and held a demonstration of Kronos in front of all the employees of Hangeul and People.

A Dell computer was installed in a factory-shipped state like last time in the spacious break room, and all the employees were closely gathered in a place where the screen could be seen.

“Oh oh! do. do.”

Again, when Kim Jin-taek pressed the power button and the Cronos logo appeared, people murmured.

When it moved to the desktop, some people cheered.

“ruler. Then, let’s install Hangul.”

At that time, Woo Hyeong-jin brought several diskettes and said.

It was an installation diskette for the new version Hangeul 2.0 tailored to the Chronos platform.

Hyungjin Woo sat down in front of the computer and put in a diskette.

“Disk reading was a success.”

Then I removed the first diskette and inserted the second diskette.

“File copying is also successful.”

After inserting and removing several diskettes, copying all the installation files, the installation proceeded.

Installation took a few minutes.

From Hoyoung’s point of view, the installation time seemed long.

However, the staff waits with bated breath even for that time.

After a while, the installation was finished, and Hyungjin Woo ran Hangul 2.0.

“Hangul 2.0 Chronos version. It works perfectly. The functions that use disks, such as loading and saving, are also perfect.”

At Kim Jin-taek’s words, cheers were louder than before.

There were even staff who were in tears.

Hoyoung and the original members hugged each other.

“I will declare it here. The first version of Chronos has been completed as of today!”

Lee Jin-chan declared with a happy voice.

“Finally, we passed the big mountain.”

“Yes, this is the real beginning!”

Everyone was delighted, but they didn’t relax.

Because they knew better than anyone that maintenance of any program is just as important as development.

Hangeul, which was successfully installed today, should continue to be tested to see if there are any bugs.

“Since you are all here, I have something to tell you.”

At that time, Kim Won-sik said to the staff.

Everyone’s attention was focused on Wonshik.

“I didn’t tell you beforehand, but in fact, it is as if we entered the world the moment Kronos was completed.”

“The world market?”

All the employees who did not know the English language were surprised and asked Won-sik a question.

Only the original members, who knew the contents in advance, smiled and nodded at Won-shik’s words.

“In discussions with Dell, we agreed that if our Kronos is superior to DOS, our operating system will be included in future computers.”

“that···. Is that true?”

“First of all, 350,000 PCs entering Korea. That is our beginning, and after that, Kronos will be installed on a significant number of Dell computers sold in the US and around the world.”

From 300,000 units entering elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools to 50,000 units entering national education centers.

The amount of PCs supplied at one time was staggering.

At Won-sik’s words, an employee said.

“Are you saying that Kronos should contend with DOS?”

“Then our operating system is clearly superior to DOS.”

“It’s a foregone conclusion that Dell computers will have our operating system!”

The confidence of the employees was grounded.

It was the first full GUI operating system, and multi-tasking ability and response speed were maximized, and the convenient interface using a mouse and icons was different from DOS, which requires inputting commands.

In the case of Windows 2.0, which is currently sold by Microsoft, it was one of the programs that had to be run in DOS, so it was not comparable in terms of speed and stability.

Then Lee Jin-chan stepped forward.

“So I am going to change the company name from today.”

“The company name?”

“haha. It doesn’t change that much. I will change it to H&H after Hangeul and Human, which is a direct English translation of Hangeul and people.”

All employees have the name of H&H engraved deep in their hearts.

There was no other way to express this hot heart other than clapping.

.

.

.

After sharing a bout of joy, Hoyoung left the office.

It was to visit Dell Korea in Gangnam.

It took less than 30 minutes from Sillim-dong to Gangnam.

[DELL KOREA]

Dell rented a large building around Gangnam Station.

Hoyeong entered the building looking at the shining signboard on the entrance.

“Hoyoung! I was waiting.”

Francis came to the first floor and greeted Hoyeong.

It must be because H&H has already announced that Hoyoung will be going.

“Are you with me already?”

“Because I wanted to see the results as soon as possible!”

Francis’ expression was sincere.

Although he is the head of the Korean branch, in the end he was also a young man who loved IT.

I couldn’t wait to see a new operating system that I was confident was superior to DOS.

“Shall we go straight to the lab?”

“good.”

Hoyoung immediately installed Cronos in the lab on the latest Dell computer that was shipped from the factory.

Kronos was quite large at the time and required 12 diskettes.

‘It would be convenient if a compact disc (CD) came out soon.’

Hoyeong complained inwardly, but it was all a problem that time would solve.

After installation, Kronos sat in front of the computer and tested it for a while.

The first thing he said after the test was “Great!”

“great. How you came up with how to control everything with the mouse and represent it with icons is a sensation in itself.”

“no. What really matters is not the GUI way.”

“I think I know what you mean. It boots much faster and the programs run better than when I installed DOS on the same computer.”

“It’s not just a feeling. Resource management and multitasking are incomparable to DOS.”

Francis, as if sincerely admiring it, continued to check this and that on the desktop after that.

“Oops! This is not something that only we know now. We need to send the original disc to America as soon as possible.”

“Francis, don’t worry. Even if you don’t, I’ve instructed you to send the original disc to the US before coming here.”

“You are thorough, too.”

Hoyoung had never seen Francis so excited.

He always showed a cool side.

‘With this operating system, we can surpass IBM.’

When Dell asked his father what he wanted to do with his life, he said, ‘I want to compete with IBM.’

Francis thought it was only a matter of time before Dell’s dream was realized with this operating system.

“And the disk of Hangeul 2.0 will be sent immediately after sufficient testing.”

“You are excellent. Hangeul 2.0 has to be installed for the 350,000 units that will enter Korea anyway.”

“I’m thinking the opposite too.”

Francis’ eyes widened slightly.

“What if the other way around?”

“I was referring to Hangeul 2.0 being installed in Dell computers sold in the US.”

Not so long ago, Dell Computer provided customers with a diskette to install DOS when they bought a computer.

However, some time ago, it changed to a method in which the operating system was originally installed and shipped to the customer.

The educational PC used in Korea also used that method.

“Are you planning to sell computers sold in the US by installing Hangeul along with the operating system?”

“It’s not just America. When the English version is fully ready, we want to start rolling out versions in several languages, starting with the US.”

At Hoyeong’s words, Francis nodded.

“you’re right. Dell has always emphasized the highest possible quality for its users.”

“I think Hangul is sufficiently competitive compared to Microsoft’s Word.”

Francis thought Hoyeong’s words were absolutely not bluffing.

The sales volume in Korea already proved Hoyoung’s words to some extent.

“I’ll have to talk directly to Dell about this.”

“That’s right. The authority entrusted to me is valid only within the Korean market.”

“Are all the PCs coming to Korea ready?”

Francis said with a slight smile.

“Are you asking as the majority shareholder of Dell, not as a director of H&H this time?”

“haha. You can answer whatever is convenient for you.”

Hoyeong smiled and responded to Francis’ jokes.

“Once, the initial quantity of 200,000 units has been completed. Now, when Kronos and Hangul 2.0 arrive at US factories, they will go through the installation process there. And in the meantime, as soon as the remaining 150,000 units are completed, we will go through the same process and deliver them to Korea by ship.”

“good. Looking forward to next month.”

“Neither do I.”

Hoyoung and Francis held hands.

“From now on, next month, the Korean market will be in your hands.”

What Francis said was true.

Students and people who have used Dell computers and Kronos from the beginning will continue to use Hangeul and Kronos familiar to them over time.

But first, Hoyeong thought that being vigilant was the first thing.

“haha. We will work even harder to make that happen.”

“It’s a realistic enough story.”

Francis felt the trust that radiated from Hoyoung’s expression as well.