Internet Explorer on Solaris: Microsoft’s Bold UNIX Move During the Browser Wars

What was the user experience with Internet Explorer on UNIX?
Join me for a hands-on installation of Internet Explorer on Solaris and a nostalgic journey to historic websites using The Retroweb.

Microsoft's foray into UNIX is a surprising chapter in the first browser war of the 90s and early 2000s. Was this just a move to gain market share and push Netscape aside? How significant was the professional UNIX workstation market, and how does this venture fit into the larger story of the United States v. Microsoft Corp. antitrust lawsuit?

Adding to the intrigue, we’ll explore Microsoft's pivotal agreement with Apple during the same era—a 5-year commitment to developing Office and making Internet Explorer the default Mac browser. Interestingly, Microsoft stepped away from these efforts just as the antitrust case settled. Coincidence?

Dive into this fascinating intersection of technology, competition, and history with me!

00:00 Intro
01:05 How Internet Explorer for UNIX came to be
03:45 Hands-on: Internet Exporer on Solaris
07:29 Internet Explorer for Unix: Development Background
09:45 The RetroWeb: A Retro-browsing Experience
11:41 Conclusion


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Copyright @ 2024 THE PHINTAGE COLLECTOR, Gianpaolo Del Matto. All rights reserved.
Individual Copyrights apply for referenced material (see links).

Theme Music composed by Abdallah El-Ghannam.
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Additional music featured by rootkitty
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Links:


Browsers in general:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCSA_Mosaic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netscape_Communicator
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer_4#Internet_Explorer_4_for_Unix
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer_for_UNIX
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safari_(web_browser)


Download Locations:
https://web.archive.org/web/20020223145309/http://www.microsoft.com/unix/ie/downloads/recommended/ie5/default.asp
https://fsck.technology/software/Sun%20Microsystems/Solaris%20Applications/Microsoft%20Internet%20Explorer/Microsoft%20Internet%20Explorer%205%20Solaris/
https://fsck.technology/software/Sun%20Microsystems/Solaris%20Applications/Microsoft%20Internet%20Explorer/
https://browsers.evolt.org/archive/opera/solaris/500b/opera-5.0-b1-20010618.003-static.solaris.sparc.tar.gz
https://browsers.evolt.org/browsers/archive/ie/solaris/4.0/
https://browsers.evolt.org/browsers/archive/ie/solaris/


Additional info on MainSoft, MainWin, Microsoft Usenet Group:
https://groups.google.com/g/microsoft.public.inetexplorer.unix
https://helparchive.huntertur.net/document/95322
https://web.archive.org/web/20000229051813/http://www.mainsoft.com/
https://web.archive.org/web/20090423035027/http://www.mainsoft.com/products/mainwin_howitworks.aspx

Windows Media Player for UNIX:
https://ftp.zx.net.nz/pub/software/Solaris/Multimedia/media-player/windows-media-player/


Browser Wars:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_wars


USA v. Microsoft anti-trust case:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_litigation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer_5#United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/29/steve-jobs-and-bill-gates-what-happened-when-microsoft-saved-apple.html


PC & Workstation Market Shares:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_share_of_personal_computer_vendors
http://sunsite.uakom.sk/sunworldonline/swol-01-1996/swol-01-workstation.html
https://www.hpcwire.com/1998/09/18/sun-ranks-number-one-total-workstation-market-revenue/
https://www.hpcwire.com/2000/08/04/statistics-say-server-workstation-markets-growing/
https://www.hpcwire.com/2001/02/09/worldwide-workstation-shipments-up-11-percent-in-2000/
https://www.tech-insider.org/statistics/research/2001/0119.html
https://www.tech-insider.org/statistics/research/2002/0130.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/mac/comments/9v31s7/apples_worldwide_pc_market_share_19802014/?rdt=41543
https://www.macworld.com/article/154911/marketshare-2.html