Jereel Hunter said:
Not at all. What do you use to browse files on your Windows computer? Windows Explorer? What if they decided that it was unfair for Microsoft to bundle a visual file browser interface with their computer? You had to use command prompt unless you obtained an alternative yourself? Long ago, MS decided that web browsing was an INTEGRAL part of a PC user's experience. Are they right? Absolutely. Even reading this forum, most of us aren't using IE (I'm using firefox right now). But I just bought a new laptop, I would be INFURIATED to fire up the laptop and find I have no way to go online. You buy a machine with windows 7, plug it into your cable modem/router, and it pretty much just works. How much good does that do you if you have no browser? MS, when they initially made Explorer part of the OS, was building towards the future... They pictured browsers to be like any other number of applications that users got built into their OS, at no cost, and with no setup required. And if you wanted something better, you could get it. And binding critical functions to it - I say, "So what?" IE may be part of the updating process, but does that prevent me from using Firefox? Nope. Doesn't force me to run IE. "They could have dodged this bullet years ago" ? There shouldn't have been a bullet to dodge. What if the same thing happened with other products? The USPS occasionally sends out little ads for holiday stamps or to announce new services/price changes. They can mail to every residence in the US at a cost of nearly nothing since they already deliver. This is basically like requiring USPS to mail ads for FedEx and UPS for free, because otherwise it's advantageous of them to use their own infrastructure for their own gain. |
Let's say things as they really stand: MS was last to recognize the importance of internet. And although I agree that a web browser is important for a PC, making it closely tied to the OS is totally unnecessary and dumb, and it gave only troubles.
