> I thought the main issue was that MS was preinstalling IE and making it a pain to uninstall it. The root issue was that Microsoft preinstalled the (free) Int

> I thought the main issue was that MS was preinstalling IE and making it a pain to uninstall it. The root issue was that Microsoft preinstalled the (free) Internet Explorer at a time when other web browsers were commercial. Netscape Navigator in particular was free for personal use, but Netscape wanted a fee for business use. That was the original sin of the monopoly: Microsoft used its dominance in the operating system market to take over the browser market at a stroke. They compounded on this with "embrace, extend, and extinguish" practices, where they would introduce and maintain IE-only web extensions to the detriment of existing and upcoming standards. You still see the modern legacy of this with Internet Explorer 'compatibility mode' hacks, since it turned out that Microsoft itself became stuck in its own morass.