Windows became the dominant OS because of demand from computer users; the problem was that Microsoft used its dominance in the OS market as leverage to gain dominance in the browser market. It is not just that the OS came with a bundled browser -- Microsoft deliberately and for no technical reason made IE a dependency of several unrelated Windows features (e.g. the desktop, the file browser, etc.). Most people received Windows pre-installed on a computer they purchased; had Microsoft not made IE a dependency of Windows itself, OEMs would have bundled browsers according to customer demand.

So yes, in fact, having IE pre-installed was a problem and ultimately Microsoft was forced to create this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BrowserChoice.eu

> Having IE pre installed is a necessary. How do you the internet with nothing installed?

Evidently, you can use a CD or 100 floppy disks. But not necessary because IE is the best tool in the world for installing Chrome and Mozilla.

You might remember this: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/03/eu-fines-microso...

Of course, that ended not too long ago. While having IE was necessary to hit the web, it immediately presented the choices available.

The EU forced Microsoft to give Windows users a choice of browsers:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BrowserChoice.eu

Having IE preinstalled was not necessary; OEMs could have (and some did) preinstall other browsers. What happened was that Microsoft decided to base unrelated parts of Windows on IE so that their browser would have to be preinstalled (Windows would not function without it). There was top-level direction on that decision and it was not actually motivated by a specific technical need.

Have we forgotten how software was distributed in this era?

https://i.imgur.com/RShi0Sg.jpg

Makes sense to include a tool with the OS that would let you download stuff then. Like a web browser. :)

The competition isn't other ad blockers. It's other advertisers, which google could choose to block.