Gates thinking in not being able to humbly charge $ for explorer is what is going to bring msft down.
No matter which side you take in the MSFT debate, you have to accept the fact that the browser issue is a red herring. MSFT bundles a word processor, terminal application, fax utility, paint application, disk compression utility, networking software, e-mail client, screen saver, web browser, web server, and find file utility with Windows 95. Those things are just the basic components of a modern operating system. In every case there was once a company that made millions selling something like that component, but eventually went out of business as the operating system matured. There is nothing unique about Netscape's plight.
Why didn't Novell call for an antitrust action when MSFT bundled NetBEUI? Or WordPerfect when WordPad was added? Or Berkeley Systems when Windows included a screen saver? Maybe the answer is that they're a bunch of idiots, but more likely the real reason is that MSFT did nothing wrong when it added these components to Windows.
Netscape is a bunch of crybabies. They chose to fill a niche that MSFT missed out on in the mid-1990s, but MSFT caught up. Now, against all odds, Netscape is relegated to the status of being the market leader in browsers, currently gaining market share, trying to make a buck by selling an add-on to an operating system. MSFT is losing browser market share, and Netscape is still being a sissy about it.
When you go into the business of supplying a component that every single computer user for a particular operating system is going to need (with the exception of the hermit nowadays who uses a computer regularly but for some reason isn't connected to the Internet or to a LAN), you HAVE to assume that the operating system manufacturer will eventually build that component into the basic system.
Compare, contrast:
Adobe PageMaker. Some users, but not all, do page layout. Thus, no bundled page layout application in Windows.
Corel WordPerfect and MS Word. Everyone does basic word processing, but not everyone needs tables, glossaries, tables of contents, spell-checkers, or math equations. So WordPad's bundled with Windows, but Word isn't.
Adobe Photoshop. Totally unnecessary for the average user. No comparable application is bundled with Windows.
Novell Netware. Every non-neglected computer today uses networking services in some way (LAN or PPP). So it's in Windows 95. Surprise, surprise, Netware's going to die.
After Dark. A computer screen will be damaged without a screen saver. So a screen saver's bundled with Windows, and After Dark is more of a toy than a necessary utility.
Netscape Navigator/Internet Explorer. Is there any computer user today who doesn't use a web browser? Find me someone who doesn't, and I'll show you a person with some sort of story (hates computers, but required to use one at work; bought computer for home but it sits largely unused; bought it 10 years ago and it's incapable of running a GUI). So it was inevitable that EVERY OS MANUFACTURER (not just MSFT) would eventually include a browser with their OS, and if Netscape didn't see that one coming, then they deserve to be put out of business.
Another way to think of it: name a feature of Microsoft Internet Explorer that isn't required for the average computer user to do average web browsing. There isn't one! So MSIE is like WordPad -- the bare essentials. If Netscape can think of some super-browser that only power users need, then they'll be able to charge for that. But they haven't thought of it, so instead they decided to try to get the government to sue MSFT.
Netscape just doesn't like Microsoft. That's the real reason they're complaining. |
