Microsoft Busting Its Own Browser+OS Myth

An anonymous reader writes "Longtime Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley used her Redmond magazine column this month to point out that after years of arguing that the browser is 'inextricably linked' to the operating system, the company's current push to get users to drop IE 6 for newer versions, plus IE's separate release schedule, are disproving its own argument. From the article: 'Microsoft has insisted that its browser is part of Windows, and, ironically, that's coming back to haunt the company. Customers can mix and match different versions of IE with different versions of Windows. ... But Microsoft has done very little to get this message out there. I'd argue this is because it makes plain the absurdity of the company's claims that IE is part of Windows.'"

Comments

Not convinced

[MetalliQaZ]

Even if users can have any one of several version of IE, they all still have IE. The linux kernel is part of the OS, but users upgrade it constantly. Microsoft's argument may have been silly, but her point doesn't make sense to me.

In addition, lets take a look at where we are so many years later. Apple's industry dominating platforms are locked into iTunes and the App Store. Both of which are far more intrusive than IE ever was. Try installing Mozilla AppFox or FireTunes on your iPad...