I was born in 1983 and grew up outside the “tech bubble" during the Microsoft era and so I have a very consumer-oriented perspective about what was happening at the time. As a very young computer user I actually appreciated what Microsoft was doing by bundling everything I needed to use and build on the web (IE4, Outlook Express, FrontPage Express) with the OS that came seemingly "free" with any PC my parents bought me. The only other thing an “average” consumer really needed in those days was an AOL/dial-up account and the Office suite for school or work. These products along with the rise of Windows starting with Windows 95/98 led to Microsoft being the de facto technology company of the time. There was nobody as big as Microsoft. They were singular in their influence and scale.
You can try to argue the same against Apple and Google in the modern day but that argument would fail because Apple has arguably as much clout as Google which also arguably has as much clout as Microsoft these days. And when you throw in “pure” web service companies like Facebook, the pie gets even more sliced. So even though everyone now has a proprietary stack of apps bundled with their walled garden of devices and services the fact that there is more than one garden makes it a very different situation than what was happening in the late 90s where the only garden in technology was Microsoft's.
Side note: I don’t think it was entirely Microsoft’s fault Netscape went under. It was my impression that Netscape’s management and direction had a lot to do with their downfall. I still have bad memories of trying to use the monstrosity that was the Netscape Communicator 4 suite. At the end of the day, bundled or not, what Microsoft offered was better. Compliance be dammed.
You can try to argue the same against Apple and Google in the modern day but that argument would fail because Apple has arguably as much clout as Google which also arguably has as much clout as Microsoft these days. And when you throw in “pure” web service companies like Facebook, the pie gets even more sliced. So even though everyone now has a proprietary stack of apps bundled with their walled garden of devices and services the fact that there is more than one garden makes it a very different situation than what was happening in the late 90s where the only garden in technology was Microsoft's.
Side note: I don’t think it was entirely Microsoft’s fault Netscape went under. It was my impression that Netscape’s management and direction had a lot to do with their downfall. I still have bad memories of trying to use the monstrosity that was the Netscape Communicator 4 suite. At the end of the day, bundled or not, what Microsoft offered was better. Compliance be dammed.