American History 1988
Chapter 377 - 366 Playing the Hooligan

Chapter 377: Chapter 366 Playing the Hooligan

"Microsoft is forcing Windows 95 users to use their Navigator browser!"

In the office, Clark was pacing nervously; he was even more anxious about Netscape’s future than CEO Barksdale.

"Microsoft is challenging the moral bottom line of the IT industry; it’s a despicable action!"

Barksdale crumpled the newspaper in his hands and angrily threw it into the trash can.

Those journalists, who had shamelessly taken public relations fees from Microsoft and were brazenly touting the former’s internet strategies, infuriated him.

As for Durell, he had already bluntly cursed Gates’s shamelessness; the latter always managed to come up with disgusting yet unavoidable strategies time after time.

Alright, everyone expected to face competition from Microsoft, but the dirty extent of their methods still refreshed everyone’s recognition.

Secretly changing the default browser settings of users? What’s the difference between this and robbery? This is sullying the light of democracy in America!

"Dean, what do you think, should we expose Microsoft’s shamelessness?" Clark was prepared to use the media to expose Seattle’s unfair practices in the browser market.

"How many copies of Windows 95 have sold in total?" Unexpectedly, Dean focused on another issue first.

Clark and Barksdale exchanged glances, puzzled as to why Dean was concerned about this.

"About 7 million copies in five weeks," Clark replied, though confused.

"7 million copies in just over a month, that’s an astonishing number," Dean knew Microsoft’s position in the operating system market was solidified.

But indeed it couldn’t continue like this; 7 million was already a sizable user base.

Although Explorer 3.0 was far leading and the vast majority of users would manually change their default browser back,

they couldn’t withstand Microsoft’s relentless bombardment over time. Some people too lazy to change it back might end up becoming Explorer users.

Moreover, with the subsequent version updates from Microsoft, this trend might become more and more apparent.

So Netscape couldn’t remain unresponsive; they had to teach Microsoft how to play by the rules.

"Save all this evidence material, and as for media exposure... do your best, but there’s no need to get too entangled," Dean advised.

You could accuse Microsoft of unfair competition and you could even sue, but the final outcome wouldn’t do much to them.

According to normal procedures, such a case could drag on for years. Fretting over this by then would be largely meaningless.

"Then what? We can’t always be on the defensive; who knows what more shameless tactics Microsoft might have up its sleeve," Clark did not want to let Microsoft off so easily,

feeling that if Netscape didn’t show some mettle, Microsoft would take even greater liberties.

"Barksdale, what do you suggest?" Dean turned his attention to the CEO of Netscape.

He was an experienced manager and had been keeping Netscape on an upward trajectory, so Dean was interested in hearing his thoughts.

"I believe Microsoft’s intense reaction is because our app store hit their sore spot!"

"Oh~, do tell," Dean showed a keen interest.

"Just look at our app store and see how many developers have been attracted by its reputation.

Before the launch of Explorer 3.0, although we already had some incentive programs, fewer than a thousand developers were ultimately interested.

The situation changed remarkably after a high school student, using Netscape’s app store, made millions of US dollars."

The example Barksdale referred to, was about a high school student from Delaware.

He was a computer enthusiast, or you could also call him a geek.

Having started with the internet early on, the young man was proficient in various programming languages.

The recently popularized HyperText and JavaScript, of course, were no challenge for him.

Netscape happened to be recruiting developers to create a variety of applications and plugins for the Explorer browser.

So this student submitted a tab plugin he had written.

This plugin allowed users to customize their own tab page, such as moving the Yahoo search box to a separate page.

At the same time, below it, users could rearrange some of their frequently visited websites according to logo icons based on their preferences.

To some extent, it was almost like designing the homepage layout of a browser.

Not only that, this plugin supported the switching of various themes for the tab pages, making them look more exquisite and pleasing to the eye.

And even after obtaining Netscape’s official permission, users’ well-edited preferences could be synchronized to the official server.

Then, upon the next opening, users could immediately use the previously edited tab page.

The plugin was highly practical and feature-rich.

Within just two weeks of the app store’s launch, it was downloaded nearly two million times.

Following Netscape’s official recommendation, the high school student from Delaware priced his plugin at 1 US dollar,

million downloads at 1 dollar, and after deductions, the high school student made 1.4 million dollars.

Though taxes had to be paid, to the average person, this was still a substantial fortune.

Undoubtedly, this student became a household name in Delaware.

Journalists flocked for interviews, each one eager to share this internet legend with the public.

Even taking advantage of the situation to promote Netscape’s app store, Barksdale personally handed over Netscape’s check to the high school student on camera.

The sensational news was born, and Netscape’s app store became an instant hit.

"Now we receive tens of thousands of submissions every day from developers all over the world.

The new economic model of the internet is destined to go down in history! Netscape has already become a banner!

Microsoft is scared of us! They’re afraid this model will destroy Microsoft’s foundation!"

The browser is the operating system, and the app store is the third-party software developer.

Barksdale incisively pointed out the impact of the Netscape model on the inherent model of Microsoft.

My browser is directly free, yet I can make money with the app store.

Can Microsoft do the same thing? The operating system for free?

God! Just thinking about this terrifying possibility is enough to cause sleepless nights in Seattle.

Barksdale was absolutely certain that the app store was the root cause of Microsoft’s furor.

"The more the enemy opposes, the more it proves that we are doing the right thing!" Barksdale, with his left hand on his hip and his right hand waving triumphantly, displayed full-blown confidence.

Dean’s expression was a bit strange, as he really wanted to ask if Barksdale had been reading some quotes from great leaders.

But fortunately, he remembered the business at hand, "Barksdale, what do you think Netscape should do next?"

"Expand the scale of the developer incentive program and attract more people to build on the Navigator browser platform.

I want to apply for a hundred million US Dollar funding pool specifically for motivating developers around the world."

"A hundred million US Dollars?!" Clark gasped. This wasn’t a small number.

"Good! I approve your request, bring me a plan when you can."

Dean’s response was also very straightforward; when it’s time to spend money, there’s no need to be stingy.

Clark, Durell, and the others exchanged glances, wondering if the decision was made too hastily.

"But that’s only a long-term measure, let’s talk about the short-term measures now." Dean’s words once again grabbed everyone’s attention.

"Short-term measures?" Not only Clark and the others but Barksdale was also showing curiosity.

"Of course, since Microsoft has already thrown away their shame, we should not be polite either."

Dean nodded towards Anderson, who was currently responsible for the development of app store plugins.

"Mark, can we add a pop-up reminder to change the default browser in the Navigator?"

Anderson’s eyes initially lit up, then he thought carefully and gave an affirmative answer.

"From a technical standpoint, this is feasible."

"Excellent, add it to our browser," Dean decided on the spot.

"Not only that, whenever someone tries to change this setting, we should also remind the user that their default browser setting is being modified."

The "someone" Dean referred to was, of course, Microsoft.

If they can make the first move, I can certainly respond in kind.

"Moreover, not only do we need a pop-up, but we should also see if it’s possible to lock the browser with one click.

Then package this feature as a plugin, put it in the app store, and offer it for free for users to download."

It’s a pity that Netscape didn’t have an antivirus software business. Otherwise, Dean would definitely let Microsoft taste what truly rogue behavior is.

The series of countermeasures that came out of Dean’s mouth left everyone gaping in amazement.

Alright, they thought Microsoft was shameless enough.

But in fact... their own boss wasn’t bad at all~

Seeing their dumbfounded expressions, Dean thought they were still worried about Microsoft’s maneuvers.

"Don’t worry, within this year, Microsoft’s browser will pose no threat to us.

Without a short-term, no-expense-spared investment to catch up to Navigator, it’s almost impossible."

Dean spoke the truth: despite Microsoft’s frantic efforts, they were far from catching up to Netscape’s tailwinds.

Compared to Microsoft, Dean was more concerned about Netscape’s stock performance on Wall Street.

Since the last announcement that the browser would be free, the stock price had not yet recovered.

However, things were moving in a positive direction. After the announcement of the email service and homepage ad ranking rules, Netscape’s stock had stabilized the fall.

Subsequently, the release of Navigator 3.0 triggered a small rebound of 5% on the same day. Then came the launch of the app store, which became a hot topic due to the news about a high school student in Delaware.

Many on Wall Street believed that the Netscape model was the future of the internet.

Because of the news from Delaware, in the following week, Netscape’s stock rose by about another 10%.

Now everyone was waiting for Netscape’s next quarterly report; if it performed well, a new round of sharp rises could almost be foreseen.

But just then, another company stole Netscape’s thunder.

It was still hugely related to Dean, even becoming his trademark symbol.

Yes, the company was Bit Software, which had just released its latest quarterly report.

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