Bill Gates

Yes. So anyway, how does NCSA, Mosaic, and Spyglass come into this? Well, the nuance is Spyglass had actually massively changed the Mosaic code. They were trying to create the Spyglass browser that was sort of based on this NCSA code base, but it wasn't very good. And so that is what Microsoft was able to get their hands on. They could not license the original NCSA version.

Yes. So anyway, how does NCSA, Mosaic, and Spyglass come into this? Well, the nuance is Spyglass had actually massively changed the Mosaic code. They were trying to create the Spyglass browser that was sort of based on this NCSA code base, but it wasn't very good. And so that is what Microsoft was able to get their hands on. They could not license the original NCSA version.

That was gone or at least not available for license. And so they sort of tried backing out a lot of the Spyglass stuff, Ultimately, it wasn't that helpful in creating Internet Explorer, and they spent just as much time trying to undo a lot of it and then build the Internet Explorer stuff on top. So ultimately, did it actually accelerate their path to market?

That was gone or at least not available for license. And so they sort of tried backing out a lot of the Spyglass stuff, Ultimately, it wasn't that helpful in creating Internet Explorer, and they spent just as much time trying to undo a lot of it and then build the Internet Explorer stuff on top. So ultimately, did it actually accelerate their path to market?

And was it actually Mark Andreessen's code? Some of it was in there, but, you know, it's not like they grabbed it off the shelf and now it's IE.

And was it actually Mark Andreessen's code? Some of it was in there, but, you know, it's not like they grabbed it off the shelf and now it's IE.

David's holding to it. It's just so delicious. It is delicious. And the two big takeaways here, at least from this additional version of the story, is one, what they actually wanted to do was make Windows web-enabled in a really deep, integrated way, not just have this one little application called a browser. And technically, there was a lot of commingling there, a lot of what became...

David's holding to it. It's just so delicious. It is delicious. And the two big takeaways here, at least from this additional version of the story, is one, what they actually wanted to do was make Windows web-enabled in a really deep, integrated way, not just have this one little application called a browser. And technically, there was a lot of commingling there, a lot of what became...

The code underpinning Internet Explorer was actually Windows code implemented in Windows operating system to do these protocols. And two, still a lot of work to make IE after the deal.

The code underpinning Internet Explorer was actually Windows code implemented in Windows operating system to do these protocols. And two, still a lot of work to make IE after the deal.

Netscape, we should say, goes from 1 million to 15 million users in one year. I mean, just instant product market fit. It was so clear that people wanted to browse the web. A lot of the time in technology in this ecosystem, we're always looking around like, is that going to become a thing? Is that going to become a thing? That was from 1994 onward, never a question about the internet.

Netscape, we should say, goes from 1 million to 15 million users in one year. I mean, just instant product market fit. It was so clear that people wanted to browse the web. A lot of the time in technology in this ecosystem, we're always looking around like, is that going to become a thing? Is that going to become a thing? That was from 1994 onward, never a question about the internet.

It's such a good quote. And there's so much behind it, too. If you really dwell in that quote, what does it mean? If one of the things he's saying is Windows is a platform upon which independent software vendors write applications. So Windows is the way that currently people write software for businesses and consumers to use.

It's such a good quote. And there's so much behind it, too. If you really dwell in that quote, what does it mean? If one of the things he's saying is Windows is a platform upon which independent software vendors write applications. So Windows is the way that currently people write software for businesses and consumers to use.

And if we are going to reduce Windows to a poorly debugged set of device drivers, what I'm implying is these crappy static web pages that get served right now, that is merely a step on our journey to enabling rich web applications. Think JavaScript, CSS, eventually Java and Flash. The web will be a way... that developers write their applications. That's right there implicit in the quote.

And if we are going to reduce Windows to a poorly debugged set of device drivers, what I'm implying is these crappy static web pages that get served right now, that is merely a step on our journey to enabling rich web applications. Think JavaScript, CSS, eventually Java and Flash. The web will be a way... that developers write their applications. That's right there implicit in the quote.

And so when they're saying we're going to reduce Windows, blah, blah, blah, it's saying, okay, Windows has all this stuff right now for developers, but essentially you're going to use Windows or any operating system just to boot it up, connect to all your peripherals and your screen and your mouse and your keyboard and everything, and you'll open your browser and you'll do everything through the browser.

And so when they're saying we're going to reduce Windows, blah, blah, blah, it's saying, okay, Windows has all this stuff right now for developers, but essentially you're going to use Windows or any operating system just to boot it up, connect to all your peripherals and your screen and your mouse and your keyboard and everything, and you'll open your browser and you'll do everything through the browser.

And that scared the hell out of Microsoft.

And that scared the hell out of Microsoft.