Windows 95 was missing a crucial element for its success: A web browser.
Note: This is a pilot article I wrote in an attempt to gauge the audience's interest. |
The future looked bright for Microsoft as the phenomenal launch of Windows 95 approached. However, at a very last moment, the company realized that its flagship product missed one important key element: a web browser, a piece of software that would allow end-users to surf the then-nascent World Wide Web. Because works on Windows 95 were completed in early 1995, it was too late for Microsoft to integrate a browser into the package as it would cost time and money for the company.
Clearly, Redmond was lagging behind its main competitors - chiefly Netscape -, and Microsoft - back in Christmas 1994 - went on a shopping spree to do what it did best during its early years to expand its market: to acquire a company that would produce a web browser, bundled as an add-on for Windows 95 and called it a day.
During the 90s, Microsoft's business practice consisted of "Embrasse, Extend, and Extinguish" where they would acquire a piece of software from a small company, improve it with features specific to Microsoft and Windows, enough to be popular with the audience that would stick with Windows and then extinguish that same company that created that software. When Microsoft's predatorial search ended on Netscape's radar, the latter quickly signed deals with its partner to bundle Netscape Navigator into their offering. AOL and CompuServe, which back in the day were America's biggest internet service providers - decided to follow suit. The goal was to prevent Bill Gates to get into the web browser market.
So the only way for Microsoft to get into the competition was to get a license of Mosaic from Spyglass - the first pioneering company that produced a working browser back in the early 90s. Originally Microsoft wanted to integrate Mosaic right into Windows 95 and declined to pay any royalty and opted for a one-time fee. Spyglass refused.
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Since the final build of Windows 95 - bearing number 490 - was completed and locked, it would have been risky for Microsoft to reverse-engineer the operating system for a last-minute change just to inject codes of a web browser without delaying one more time the launch of the operating system (Remember, Windows 95 was supposed to be released two years earlier and badged as Windows 93 and seen by many as a quantum leap compared to Windows 3.0). From a financial perspective, it would have cost the company $ 1 million to create an in-house web browser from scratch and it would miss the Windows 95 launch. Worse, even if they sped up the development schedule to meet the deadline, it would lead to massive additional costs.
As a result, it offered $2 million for the Mosaic source code, with stipulations that limited its reliance on Spyglass. Microsoft would receive only a single snapshot of Mosaic's source code from which Redmond would be free to tinker around and create its own web browser for Windows, Mac, and Unix. Spyglass agreed.
Enter, Thomas Reardon, a computer scientist who, like the self-proclaimed Autocrat Steven Sinofsky, David Cutler, and Jim Allchin, fell under Gates' search for the smartest tech wizards around the bloc. (Reardon was actually spotted by Gate's then-girlfriend Ann Winblad during a computer fair). The founder convinced Reardon to work for his empire. The young Irish man began working at Microsoft as an intern in the Summer of 1994 and was tasked to lead a one-man assault against Netscape Navigator. In fact, Reardon was the only Microsoft engineer who created the first version of Internet Explorer 1.0. When Microsoft shipped Windows 95 with great fanfare, they added a retail box Plus! Package, a companion of some sort for their brand new operating system that included a set of enhancements, an early ancestor of Power Toys, and Internet Explorer 1.0 was added to the mix.
As was the case with the very first version of Windows 1.0, Internet Explorer was met with a lukewarm reception from the audience who preferred the venerable Netscape to Microsoft's in-house browser. After all, Netscape was one year ahead of the competition. But from Microsoft's perspective, IE 1.0 was always intended to be a placeholder for the next version of the browser that would be improved over time. As a result, Microsoft was at work and the second version of IE was released in October 1995 and began to fill in the blank for the missing elements like support for cookies, SSL, JavaScript, and HTML 3. It provided integrated email and newsgroup clients, as did Navigator. And it could import bookmarks from Netscape’s browser for the first time.
As for IE 1.0, its follow-up was not well received. Bill Gates took his troop to the local bar and after a few drinks, he stated that "...[IE] was the worst piece of software ever shipped". His reaction rose some angry eyebrows in the gallery -- after all, it was Bill Gates's fault - he failed to recognize the importance of the internet back in the early 90s. The troop returned to their work, and while maintaining I.E 2.0 for Windows NT, Mac, and Unix, they began plotting a sinister scheme to take over cyberspace.
Reardon decided that the next version of Microsoft Windows code-named "Memphis" and tentatively named "Windows 97", would integrate Internet Explorer technology at its core. I.E would not be a standalone application, instead, it would be the DNA of Windows, penetrating in a seamless way every level of the operating system; from the shell up to the UX. While chief competitors like Netscape allowed browsing the web, Internet Explorer would do better, it would allow the end-user to browse the web and Windows's operating system files, folders, and network as well.
So, besides being free of charge for all users, Internet Explorer would be rooted deep down to the core of Windows -- that it would be impossible to pull off or uninstall it to make room for another competitor without disturbing the normal functioning of the operating system. This would have a great negative repercussion on Microsoft during the Antitrust Trial in 1998;
And the result paid off, Internet Explorer 3.0 was a significant upgrade to the previous version. Gone is the Windows flag logo and replaced by the ubiquitous and famous, classic "e" logo that would last until Windows Internet Explorer 11. With this, Internet Explorer 3.0 was a huge leap forward in terms of innovations for then the nascent World Wide Web. It supported Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), HTML frames, Active X controls, Java applets, and Netscape’s NPAPI plug-in technologies. It included bundled Internet Mail and News (the predecessors to Outlook Express) and NetMeeting and Comic Chat clients, and integrated versions of Windows Media Player, RealPlayer, and the Windows Address Book.
By 1997, I.E's market share reached 38 percent while Netscape struggled down to 58 percent. And Microsoft finally was on track to beat its competitors.
That same year, while Microsoft was in the midst of Beta testing the next iteration of Windows 97, which due to Antitrust Trial, was delayed for the summer of 1998 and renamed Windows 98, the company released the biggest update to its now venerable Internet Explorer. With the fourth version on track to hit not only, Windows 95 and NT 4.0, I.E 4.0 embarrassed - in fact- celebrated literally Windows 98 whose shell featured a web-like one-click object when users mouse over and click on desktop's folders or settings. I.E implementation featured the Channel Bar, which is considered the ancestor of the Sidebar from the Longhorn era. (In fact, the Sidebar was the result of Microsoft Research's paperwork about information awareness -- published in the Summer of 2000 - but that's another story)
As a result, I.E 4.0 was way better than Netscape on many levels. Jim Clark's company was bleeding and requested help from the Department of Justice to probe Microsoft's unfair practices, which would lead us to the biggest trial of the end of the 20th century. But the deed was done, even if Netscape notched some victories during the trial, the company would never recover as IE dominated the market for the years ahead. Thomas Reardon expressed disillusionment and decided to leave the company in 2000.
Internet Explorer dominated the market share at the dawn of the 21st century reaching a peak of 91 percent in 2002/03. With no competitor in sight, Internet Explorer 6.0 was the longest-serving web browser, released in 2001 alongside Windows XP, proved successful indeed but prone to vulnerabilities, until Microsoft decided to release the seventh version of IE in 2006.
Sofiane M. MEROUANI
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