Most of us now consider it common practice for a vendor to bundle a web browser in its operating system; Windows ships with Microsoft Edge, ChromeOS comes with Google Chrome, macOS sports Apple Safari, while Ubuntu has Mozilla Firefox pre-installed. However, this wasn't always the case, especially in the early days of the internet when the technology was yet to reach mass market. In fact, Microsoft bundling Internet Explorer (IE) in Windows 95 was a pretty major move and was meant as a way to combat Netscape's growing popularity in the web browser space, in what would eventually be known as the "First Browser War".

The idea of shipping a web browser with Windows 95 was reportedly first suggested on August 15, 1994 — 29 years ago — by Microsoft engineer Benjamin Slivka, who floated the idea of indexing the content of the entire internet in Project Cairo, the codename for an initiative headed by CEO Bill Gates from 1991 to 1996. Although Cairo never shipped in its completed state, its elements made their way to Windows 95 (codename "Chicago") when the operating system shipped in August 1995.

In October 1994, Microsoft veteran John Ludwig tasked Slivka's team with developing Project O'Hare, which was the codename for Internet Explorer at the time. The significance of this codename is that just like the O'Hare International Airport connects Chicago to the rest of the world, Internet Explorer was meant to connect Windows 95 to the rest of the world wide web. After Windows 95's program manager Thomas Reardon licensed the source code for the Mosaic web browser from Spyglass, development on Internet Explorer officially kicked off in January 1995 with just six people, led by Slivka.

Although Internet Explorer 1 was bundled with Windows 95 PCs as a part of the Plus! add-on pack for the operating system, it wasn't an immediate hit and barely captured any marketshare. It wasn't until the release of Internet Explorer 3 in August 1996 that the browser really took off, boosted by positive press reviews. Within one year after its release, it had gained over 30% markeshare and became a major threat to Netscape Navigator. By 1998, Internet Explorer had become the most popular web browser, pretty much winning the browser wars. In 2004, its marketshare hit 95%, establishing it as the dominant leader in this space.

However, this journey wasn't exactly smooth sailing. Microsoft's bundling of Internet Explorer in Windows led to antitrust lawsuits filed against the company by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) in the United States v. Microsoft Corp. case in May 1998. The DoJ argued that Microsoft was monopolizing the browser market by imposing limitations on PC OEMs and customers, not allowing them to uninstall Internet Explorer through strict licensing agreements and technical limitations.

Previously, in 1994, Microsoft had reached a settlement with the DoJ, stating that it would not bind other Microsoft products to the sale of Windows. The DoJ claimed that Microsoft was going against its settlement while the latter argued that Internet Explorer wasn't a distinct product, but actually a Windows feature, much to the frustration of the U.S. government.

Other arguments by Microsoft's opposition included claims that by bundling Internet Explorer with Windows 95, Microsoft had unfairly restricted the competition since it took consumers more time and effort to purchase and install competing browsers like Netscape Navigator. Similarly, investigations were also conducted around the idea that the Redmond giant had modified its APIs to prefer IE over other browsers. In response, Microsoft argued that bundling IE in Windows 95 was actually innovative and allowed people to search the internet for free. However, it faced stiff opposition from regulators which noted that IE isn't really free because its development costs may have led to a hike in the price of Windows itself.

When the trial began in May 1998, evidence was presented by both sides showing the effects of bundling and unbundling IE in Windows. Following a rather poor showing from Microsoft due to botched video recordings and doctored proof, U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ruled against Microsoft, claiming that it was indeed a monopoly and that it had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. The Judge announced that Microsoft should now be split into two companies, one which handles Windows development, and another that builds other software components. Naturally, the tech company appealed this decision in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

After much back and forth in multiple courts, the DoJ announced in September 2001 that it was no longer seeking to break up Microsoft. A settlement was officially agreed upon in November 2001 under which Microsoft was not required to unbundle IE from Windows, but was instead sanctioned to share its APIs with third-party firms and have its source code and systems overseen for five years by a panel of three independent members to ensure compliance with the settlement. Finally, the District Court approved of this settlement and so did the D.C. Circuit Court in June 2004, despite continued opposition from multiple states.

Although Internet Explorer is now dead and has been succeeded by Microsoft Edge — which is based on Chromium and doesn't really command a huge marketshare — Microsoft's decision to bundle IE in Windows was pivotal in establishing its multi-year dominance in the browser market before it was eventually overtaken by Google Chrome in 2012. With the bundling of IE, the ensuing antitrust lawsuit was also a landmark moment in tech history in terms of arguably the first major interference by a governement in a big tech company, debates about monopolies, and setting a precedent regarding what actually is anti-competitive behavior in the technology space. While Internet Explorer is history — and Slivka blames Steven Ballmer's Windows strategy for it — the rise and fall of the browser still serves as a reminder of what once was, and even what could have been if the decision to break up Microsoft had been maintained by the Court of Appeals.