Re:Windows 10 Tip: Turn Off File Explorer Advertising
by laumars on Friday March 10, 2017 @03:50PM
(#13842017)
That's just one employee, not really a fair representation of MS upper management nor Gates specifically. I've seen interviews with Bill Gates in the mid 90s where he talks about a long term plan for subscription software over the internet (specifically regarding Office if I recall correctly). That's two decades before Office 365.
Let's also remember just how deeply Internet Explorer 4 integrated into Windows 95.
Microsoft were very aware of the potential of the web but that still doesn't mean they could control it.
MS did not see the internet coming. I remember being at conferences in the '90s and speaking with boastful MS types about the "Microsoft Network", which required a paid subscription. "This internet stuff is just for universities, it doesn't have a future," one guy told me.
Of course, things didn't go that way, so Microsoft released IE5 and IIS and it was game on.