The Mother in Law called this week to ask, "How do I copy a file from my desktop to my floppy disk?"  Hands up if you think this is an easy task.  Ok, now try to explain the process to someone who is computer illiterate and using Windows 3.11.  (No fair going to a DOS prompt)  It took a good 10 minutes of my time to describe the process of opening the File Manager, opening two windows, then dragging and dropping.  We're talking about an operation that takes maybe 5 seconds under Windows 95 using the Send To... command.

Microsoft designs products to fit the lowest common denominator because that is how they're going to appeal to the most people.  They're usually in no particular hurry to get these products out because they can afford to watch the mistakes and successes of other smaller companies and capitalize on that knowledge.  Howeve, that strategy changed when Internet Explorer 4.0 showed up on my desktop.

Here's the abbreviated Microsoft justification for integrating Web functionality into the Windows 95 desktop, "Everyone is going to be using a browser, so why not propagate the tool set people use in browsers into the desktop!"  Suddenly, a single click on a desktop icon is launching programs, anything which is clickable is underlined like a link, and my control panel turned into a framed Web page.

No, no, no, no, no.

A good portion of the planet has just figured out how to deal with a window and now Microsoft is changing the rules.  Upon completing the IE installation, I spent a good portion of the day frustrated and annoyed because I was unable to accomplish even the most tasks on my desktop.  I don't want to learn a new skill set to navigate my desktop; I'm still reeling from the fact Microsoft added two new keys to my keyboard... a device which I don't believe has changed much in over 50 years.  Fortunately, Microsoft makes it possible to disable most of the intrusive webifying on the desktop.  (Hats off to ZDNet for making sure these instructions were available as soon as the IE4 bits hit the wire.)

IE's drastic attempts at redefining the way you interact with your desktop is partially due to Microsoft's belief that Netscape represents a significant threat. Moving away from their "watch and learn" strategy has forced them to innovate, a skill they'll need to fine tune if they plan on remaining king of the hill. 

[rant]  Think of your browser as an extremely flexible television set.   It’s a viewer that makes sense of the thousands of packets of information you receive as you surf the web.   Without it, the World Wide Web is totally useless.

What makes the wares of Netscape and Microsoft the top browser in the market is not only the fact that they innovate, but that they also strive to support the widest variety of technologies available.  Users of Communicator and Internet Explorer are guaranteed that they’re going to see a good portion of the Web they way their respective page designers intended them to.   This makes these browsers the best TVs around… right out of the box.

As we discussed in the previous article, Microsoft is attempting to simplify browsing by integrating much of the functionality of the browser directly into the Windows operating system.  They do a fine job, but they’ve made a competitive mistake with the assumption that you want to use their browser.

For example, if you’ve installed IE4, you’re aware that your once tame toolbar is now rich with functionality.  Right click on that toolbar and make sure that the “Address” toolbar is visible.   Now, go ahead and type your favorite URL in that address book and watch as IE pops up displaying your page.  Slick functionality, I’d use a lot, but it will only launch Internet Explorer and not Netscape.  Even if I’ve got HTML extensions registered to launch Netscape.  Suddenly, I’m no longer admiring IE’s new functionality, I’m hurrying to turn it off.  Essentially Microsoft is telling IE users that if you want to use Windows, you’d better use Internet Explorer.  Or, going back to our television metaphor, if you want these channels, you’d better buy this TV. Consumers aren’t going to buy it.

Years ago, Microsoft dealt the fatal blow to WordPerfect by competing with a word processor that embraced and extended the functionality that the users were used to.   “Buy Word and you’ll get all of WordPerfect’s functionality and MORE."   Strange -- Microsoft abandoned that winning strategy when it came to Internet browsers.