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0 pointsscarface746y ago0 comments

Let’s give credit where it’s due. The first large scale use of AJAX was Microsoft using it in Outlook Mail for the web in 2000.

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bdcravens6y ago

That wasn't just the first large scale use of it, that's when AJAX was invented.

carterehsmith6y ago

Indeed.

Microsoft also exposed all of that HTML/JS engine as COM or whatever component, so it could be used by applications other than browser.

I remember using Microsoft Money -- personal accounting software -- and it seemed to be all built on that HTML/JS engine.

pavlov6y ago

It’s crazy how Microsoft had all the pieces in place in 2001 to own both the Chrome and Electron spaces. Even Apple was shipping IE as their default browser.

By investing in cross-platform IE and making it both the best browser and the universal runtime for desktop-quality apps, they could have had “Windows Everywhere”.

Instead they did the exact opposite and folded IE into a component of desktop Windows where it received no meaningful investment and lost its once commanding lead. Microsoft’s exclusive focus on their proprietary non-portable APIs was a great blunder.

numtel6y ago

They had been recently sued for having a monopoly from bundling IE with Windows. The chain of events you describe was in many ways not a choice of Microsoft.

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scarface74OP6y ago

IE wasn’t “cross platform” though. The rendering engine for the Mac was completely different and ironically more standards compliant and had a more complete CSS implementation than the Windows version.

mmcgaha6y ago

I cannot remember the years, but IE ran on linux at some point in the 90s.

dillonmckay6y ago

In the context of that time, Electron would be considered inferior.

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