1996: The year Microsoft conquered the Internet

A little over a year ago, on Pearl Harbor day 1995, Bill Gates announcedMicrosoft's Internet strategy. No one took it very seriously, and mostpeople seriously doubted that a company the size of Microsoft would be able to recast themselves for the Internet generation. Everyone pointedat other companies like Apple and IBM that had been unable to successfullychange with the times. Others pointed at MSN, Microsoft's proprietaryonline service, which was, until then, the company's answer to the Internet. It was a joke.Well, a year later, no one is laughing. Microsoft may not be number onein browser sales, e-mail client sales, or in many other major Internetcategories, but no one questions the omnipresence of Microsoft on theNet. The shear breadth of Microsoft's Internet product line--mostly created, bought, or updated all this past year, is incredible. The feeding frenzy over Internet Explorer 3.0 the week it was released issymbolic of the average user's desire to identify a strong player they know and trust. For better or worse, it is obvious that Microsoft is thatplayer. Today, Windows is the number one Internet client and the future just looks brighter and brighter as Microsoft's Internet strategy continues to unfold