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I’d note also the issue wasn’t Microsoft writing their own browser. They already had. The illegal thing they did was integrate the browser directly into the ope

I’d note also the issue wasn’t Microsoft writing their own browser. They already had. The illegal thing they did was integrate the browser directly into the operating system as a mandatory thing for free as a way to drive a competitor out of business, which succeeded. This isn’t my opinion, this is public record and a legal finding of fact. Netscape would have improved in response given a normal competitive market. But they didn’t and couldn’t. Instead we started Mozilla, which is probably a better outcome for everyone. My work on creating the Mozilla project is a highlight of my career.

scarface_74 3y ago
Out of all of things that Microsoft was actually found guilty of, bundling the browser with the OS was never one in the US. There was never a time since MS bundled the browser with the Windows that they were forced not to do so. There was also never a browser choice mandate in the US.
- dwattttt 3y ago
  Even as a fan of Microsoft, rephrasing that as "the entirely legal thing they did that drove a competitor out of business" doesn't make me feel better about the outcome.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    Isn’t the simple explanation that Navigator sucked and people decided not to go out of their way to download it? Navigator did suck and was crash prone and could bring down the entire operating system on weaker operating systems like the Mac. We have two instances where people did in fact choose to go out of their way to download better browsers then the default - first Firefox and then Chrome.
    - icedchai 3y ago
      It's been so long, I think people may have forgotten just how unstable Netscape actually was. 4.x was also incredibly bloated for the time. At one company, I remember a guy rebooting his Mac daily because NS would crash it. In the late 90's, I also briefly worked at another company with tons of ex-Netscape people. Even they preferred IE.

scarface_74 3y ago

Out of all of things that Microsoft was actually found guilty of, bundling the browser with the OS was never one in the US. There was never a time since MS bundled the browser with the Windows that they were forced not to do so. There was also never a browser choice mandate in the US.

dwattttt 3y ago
Even as a fan of Microsoft, rephrasing that as "the entirely legal thing they did that drove a competitor out of business" doesn't make me feel better about the outcome.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- scarface_74 3y ago
  Isn’t the simple explanation that Navigator sucked and people decided not to go out of their way to download it? Navigator did suck and was crash prone and could bring down the entire operating system on weaker operating systems like the Mac. We have two instances where people did in fact choose to go out of their way to download better browsers then the default - first Firefox and then Chrome.
  - icedchai 3y ago
    It's been so long, I think people may have forgotten just how unstable Netscape actually was. 4.x was also incredibly bloated for the time. At one company, I remember a guy rebooting his Mac daily because NS would crash it. In the late 90's, I also briefly worked at another company with tons of ex-Netscape people. Even they preferred IE.