Netscape Navigator was free to consumers, and was the fastest growing software product in history before Microsoft started bundling IE. We'd still be using the

Netscape Navigator was free to consumers, and was the fastest growing software product in history before Microsoft started bundling IE. We'd still be using the web anyway. The free availability of IE bundled with Windows just stifled competition in the browser space, causing stagnation of the web until other companies with deep pockets financed alternatives. (Apple - Webkit and Safari, and Google - Firefox and Chrome) If Microsoft had kept developing IE at the same rate as they did between IE3 and IE6, I doubt anyone would be putting them down.