Dan Griffin's Blog
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Internet Explorer - Microsoft’s biggest mistake?
May 1, 2006
I had only spent about 20 seconds catching up on news this morning when I stumbled onto this one. I have to admit - the proposition made me stop think for a second. Was the creation of Internet Explorer Microsoft’s biggest mistake ever?
No way.
Another way to look at the question is this - would Microsoft be worse off if they’d never developed an in-house browser technology? Probably. And the historic turn-on-a-dime company-wide shift in direction that occurred when Bill Gates finally realized he’d missed the internet train? I don’t see how that could have proceeded without a browser development effort, at least symbolically. And engineering teams across the company will continue to benefit from the experience (good and bad) of that effort for years to come.
Plus, the highest profile Windows platform security bugs have come from LSA/RPC, SQL, and IIS. Compared to those whoppers, IE’s security flaws look minor.
That doesn’t disprove the proposition, of course; it’s just another way to look at it. Still, the question strikes me as a fallacy. Sort of like saying, "Did General Motor’s make its biggest mistake in offering its workforce health insurance and a pension?"
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