Is Internet Explorer a product separate from the Windows operating system? Of course it is! But it didn't start off that way.

Didn't start off that way? I know what you're thinking. Haven't I got it backward?

No, it is Microsoft that got it backward. Microsoft started off with a good plan. Include a free browser with the new Windows 95 operating system. Windows Explorer? Internet Explorer? That sounded reasonable. One handles internal files. One handles external files. It sounds like they are both just parts of Windows, right?

But, unfortunately for Microsoft it's Internet Explorer browser wasn't popular. Most people preferred Netscape. So, in order for Microsoft to compete with Netscape, it became necessary for Microsoft to add frequent refinements to it's browser (including Java).

Well, Microsoft could have marketed the frequent improvements to it's browser, and it's (also unpopular) online service as Windows 95 upgrades. But then people might not realize the emphasis on competition with Netscape. So they chose to market the browser improvements as indivdual products separate from the Windows 95 operating system. Internet Explorer 2. Internet Explorer 3. Internet Explorer 4. Internet Explorer for Windows 3.1. Internet Explorer for Mac. Wait a minute! How can Internet Explorer for Windows 3.1, or Mac be considered part of the Windows 95 operating system? They can't!

Well, this strategy help to improve the popularity of the browser. It helped improve the image, and the overall market share for Internet Explorer. But it killed Microsoft's chances of calling Explorer, and Windows the same product. In other words Bill blew it!

In the (Microsoft/Dept. of Justice) 1995 consent decree, Microsoft agreed not to tie the purchase of one product to another but retained the right to develop new, integrated products. So the browser Microsoft first introduced in Windows 95 was (very likely) a legal inclusion. But, in marketing Internet Explorer as a separate product and forcing PC makers to include it, Microsoft has violated the consent decree.

Anyone who has been on the Internet more than a time, or two, has seen the ads for Internet Explorer. It is actually difficult to miss them. But in case you haven't seen them I've posted one at the top of this page. For over a year these ads have been posted all over the Internet.

Internet Explorer browser is not just a part of Windows 95. It is clearly advertised as a separate product. And for that reason it will (most likely) have to succeed as a separate product. That won't be easy. Especially if it doesn't run platform independent Java applications.

If you'd like to obtain more information, or voice your opinion on this subject please visit the Consumer Project on Technology, or Essential Information's Appraising Microsoft Conference site.