Every generation has this moment, where they learn to hate Microsoft (or Micro$oft). Then, 4% install Linux, 6% buy a Mac with half the RAM for twice the price; and everyone else to keeps complaining.
With me it was when they killed off my favorite browser. I'm now using the reanimated bushy red corpse of it.
Netscape?
MS has done shady things but Netscape's own top employees have written about how Netscape destroyed itself with the version 4 rewrite. Joel Spolsky has also written about how complete rewrites are always a mistake.
Their corporate side failed too. If you weren't fortune 500, Netscape wouldn't talk to you. I was spending $50k a year with Netscape and they wouldn't fix a bug unless I paid for an additional $75k a year support tier. ( The bug was Netscape 4 didn't support dialing with area codes! )
Meanwhile during the late 90's Microsoft devs put their personal emails in the readme.txts and would quickly patch any bugs or add features if you emailed them.
All the small isp's (which were over 50% of the market) gave up on Netscape because of this.
Every generation has this moment, where they learn to hate Microsoft (or Micro$oft). Then, 4% install Linux, 6% buy a Mac with half the RAM for twice the price; and everyone else to keeps complaining.
With me it was when they killed off my favorite browser. I'm now using the reanimated bushy red corpse of it.
Netscape?
MS has done shady things but Netscape's own top employees have written about how Netscape destroyed itself with the version 4 rewrite. Joel Spolsky has also written about how complete rewrites are always a mistake.
Their corporate side failed too. If you weren't fortune 500, Netscape wouldn't talk to you. I was spending $50k a year with Netscape and they wouldn't fix a bug unless I paid for an additional $75k a year support tier. ( The bug was Netscape 4 didn't support dialing with area codes! )
Meanwhile during the late 90's Microsoft devs put their personal emails in the readme.txts and would quickly patch any bugs or add features if you emailed them.
All the small isp's (which were over 50% of the market) gave up on Netscape because of this.
What was your favorite browser?
This is the way