This is a bit incorrect - browsers weren't a big thing in 1993, and the development of Windows 95 happened in a world where browsers were only becoming "a big d

This is a bit incorrect - browsers weren't a big thing in 1993, and the development of Windows 95 happened in a world where browsers were only becoming "a big deal" in the background. (Hell, The Microsoft Network that came bundled with Windows 95 was essentially meant to be a competitor to the Internet.) It wasn't until a service pack or two into Windows 95's life that IE started to be bundled, and it wasn't until IE 4 in 1997 that Active Desktop appeared. But, yes, the main interface to the Windows desktop being rendered via IE has been a long-term and recurring thing for Microsoft.