Even in the IE4 days, Microsoft was still very much "we'll only do as much web as necessary, but we can't lose our Windows fort... how can we sabotage this effort?". They were in full-on EEE mode[1] then and wanted to subvert, not join, the web. JScript, ActiveX, ClickOnce, IE's idiosyncracies, etc. were all Microsoft's own efforts to get around the webification of everything. They lost, not just because of Google but also Netscape, Mozilla/Phoenix, eBay, Craigslist, Amazon, Match, MapQuest, etc. Nobody wanted to build desktop apps anymore once they could effortlessly reach everyone via the web without having to be a Microsoft vassal.
Even ASP and IIS etc. insisted on having its own stack -- superior in some ways, but way less compatible and more expensive. Again their own doing. Free/cheap won out, I guess :)
Even ASP and IIS etc. insisted on having its own stack -- superior in some ways, but way less compatible and more expensive. Again their own doing. Free/cheap won out, I guess :)
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguis...
(edit: how the heck do you actually properly make hyperlinks on HN? I always struggle with this)