Via Blake Ross’, I read that we should thank Microsoft for its monopolistic behaviour. After all:
…and for all those who lament the pre-inclusion of Internet Explorer, it’s worth noting that if IE WASN’T pre-installed, most people wouldn’t be able to download all that IM, media playing, or even alternative browsers such as Firefox. In other words, if IE wasn’t pre-included with Windows, the market for software – including open source software targeted at desktop computers – might actually shrink. Talk about sucking the air out of a market.
When I first heard about ‘these internets’, I’m pretty sure the very first browser I got (Mosaic) was downloaded from an FTP site and then, put on a 1.44 MB 3 1/4″ disk for me. No Internet Explorer was required: after all a web browser was (and still should be) a stand-alone application. It’s exactly the integration of IE into Windows 98 that got (and keeps getting) Microsoft in antitrust troubles.
However, there’s no doubt in my mind that Microsoft played a crucial part (as in targeting the consumer and the desktop) in the evolution of ‘information technology’. But that is a different question.