Earlier quoted context omitted.
The heart of the case was whether OEMs could install Netscape and/or remove IE. One direct result was that Microsoft could not insist on its preferred installation of Windows. Microsoft was also prevented from charging the major OEMs different prices, which was its main way of rewarding OEMs for doing installations the way Microsoft wanted.
This is true -- but again Microsoft got caught lying about how IE's functionality was "intrinsic" to Windows (which was why it prevented IE from being uninstalled). It was also forcing PC manufacturers to pay a royalty for every PC sold, whether or not it was bundled with DOS or Windows (which damaged rivals like Digital Research -- the company Microsoft essentially stole DOS from, but that's another story).
Microsoft had been forced to sign a consent decree in 1995, which prevented it from tying new products to the OS but specifically allowed it to add new features to the OS. It therefore didn't have much choice about its arguments, though (like every other OS supplier) it obviously wanted to include a browser. Equally obviously, delivering a free browser as part of the OS was good for consumers, which is why Microsoft won the browser bundling case on appeal.
Microsoft had also componentized the browser so that different functions could be used by other programs, which to some extent, did make it part of the OS. (Much of the anti-trust case argument on that topic was phenomenally stupid.)
>It was also forcing PC manufacturers to pay a royalty for every PC sold, whether or not it was bundled with DOS or Windows
Don't think so. That was a deal offered to some OEMs, but as far as I know, it was never forced on anybody. In any case, the US Justice Department banned the idea in 1994. I tend to think 21+ years is a bit of long time to hold a grudge about something that was killed before it took off.
> Digital Research -- the company Microsoft essentially stole DOS from, but that's another story
Well, DR screwed up massively by refusing to sign a deal with IBM, then by charging too much for DR DOS, and then Apple screwed it in a court case over the UI in DR GEM. Either way, DR was dead long before the Microsoft anti-trust suit.