It was amazing just how many attempts Microsoft (and partners) had to make to topple Netware. MS-NET was doa[0] The eventual 3 way partnership between 3Com, I

It was amazing just how many attempts Microsoft (and partners) had to make to topple Netware. MS-NET was doa[0] The eventual 3 way partnership between 3Com, IBM and MS limped along as LAN Manager, but the real turning point that I remember was the growing requirement for TCP/IP on the desktop and directory services that worked. Novell had awesome directory services but MS were faster to rehost their file sharing on TCP, largely due to the work done to run lan manager on Unix machines. It wasn't that TCP was faster, but it had a much better inter networking story. As networks got bigger, IPX ran out of puff. Microsoft giving the product away with Windows NT was the cherry on top. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS-Net https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS-Net