Microsoft's Biggest Blunder of All Time?

I have been reading a PC Magazine columnist by the name of John C Dvorak since the 1980's and almost always enjoy reading his articles and his opinions. Sometimes he's wrong, sometimes I disagree, and many times he is right on. One of his most recent columns talks about a huge Microsoft blunder that goes back many years.

And what is that blunder, you ask? Well, sit down, because he says that huge mistake was the development and release of Internet Explorer. What?

At first I was taken aback by his pronouncement, but as I read his column, I realized he was dead-bang-spot-on. It was a huge mistake to get into the browser business and it has been nothing but grief for the company, both in dollars and public relation almost since the day it was released.

I strongly recommend you read his article, but if you don't wish to, his main points are that they rushed into the browser business because they initially missed the importance of the Internet. This is true and how well I remember it.

They put out a product that really wasn't ready for prime time and had multiple security issues that we still have to deal with today on a weekly or monthly basis. In addition, they have been sued by the our government and the European Union, not to mention other companies who felt Microsoft violated their particular patents or copyrights. Just the other day, they were slapped with a $521 court judgment on patent violation over Internet Explorer. And all this over a product that they give away for free!

This product has cost them millions, if not billions of dollars to keep it up and running. It has been surpassed in quality by other browser products like Opera, Firefox and even Netscape. And yet they keep on developing the product and fixing the existing security holes almost on a daily basis. And for what end? Ego, I suspect.

Dvorak recommends they totally get out of the browser business, remove it from future operating systems and then include other browsers on the package CD's and let the users decide which they would like to have. If they still want to be in the browser business, take out a financial stake in Opera. Just drop Internet Explorer!

Again, I recommend you read Dvorak's article and see if you don't agree with him also.