How Microsoft Hijacked the Internet

Remember when the Internet was first born? Remember how anyone with a simple command of HTML could post their own web page? And, so long as your browser supported the HTML *standard*, you could read that web page?

Obviously, that did not make Microsoft happy. Was it Netscape pushing Microsoft back into the corner & out of the limelight that did it? Who knows? What I can say is that they not only came back and pushed Netscape off of the map (Netscape who?), but they also took over the Internet. How many times have you gone to someone's web site and seen those dreaded words, "This site REQUIRES (my emphasis added) Internet Explorer Ver X or higher". What happened to the HTML standard? Did it die? Pull a MacArthur ("just faded away" for those of you who are a little short on history)?

Again, no. Microsoft said, "Hey, let's not only destroy Netscape, let's take over the Internet, too! HTML? BAH! We don't need no stinkin' HTML! We're MICROSOFT!"

So it goes. Obviously Microsoft was not content to merely suck the life blood from a competitor. Who would be?

Now I'm stuck occasionally having to use Internet Exploder, despite my wish to use Mozilla's Firefox whenever I can. I can say that I've noted several attempts (looking at firewall logs) of outside entities trying to get through to my computer. I've also noted that they line up perfectly for when I'm using IE as opposed to Firefox.

IE = lots of attempts
Firefox = all's quiet on the binary front.

Sigh.