An associated question is, "why the hell would I want 12 months of msn with a new pc at Best Buy?!?", as I seem to remember most computers being bundled with walled garden isp deals in the late 90s.
What the Hell Was the Microsoft Network? (2018)
91–100 of 128 posts
Re: What the Hell Was the Microsoft Network? (2018)
#92https://youtu.be/5DqJwmzG6Fk?t=1133 This video was linked in the article. What a trip down memory lane. This is the most 90's thing that ever existed. Also, the explanation of what a "right click" is and how it is for "power users". Wow, how far we have come. (This is at 21:50 in the video).
Yep, now with touch screens it's even more hidden
Did anyone learn the double-click on their own? Inscrutable gestures can exist on any pointing device.
Re: What the Hell Was the Microsoft Network? (2018)
#93Having worked at MSN during this time, I can tell you, the jealousy of AOL and the client-based walled garden they built was almost physically palpable. AOL was the onramp to the internet for so many folks, but many felt they didn't need to leave the garden. MSN was kind of a halfway spot: a bit more open, but also more integrated into Windows (standard embrace and extend approach). Yahoo! was the other big worry: al…
> but also more integrated into Windows
that's right. iirc the windows 95 ppp drivers were a separate package and msn included them along with a custom dialer that integrated directly into the shell as a tray application?
Re: What the Hell Was the Microsoft Network? (2018)
#94Having worked at MSN during this time, I can tell you, the jealousy of AOL and the client-based walled garden they built was almost physically palpable. AOL was the onramp to the internet for so many folks, but many felt they didn't need to leave the garden. MSN was kind of a halfway spot: a bit more open, but also more integrated into Windows (standard embrace and extend approach). Yahoo! was the other big worry: al…
One nitpick: Microsoft Money was around since the early '90s, long before MSN showed up. I also miss it very much.
Re: What the Hell Was the Microsoft Network? (2018)
#95Re: What the Hell Was the Microsoft Network? (2018)
#96Definitely a forgotten program. Another one from that era (that actually survived until Win 10 I just learned) is the "Briefcase". It was basically a primitive file syncing tool for multiple devices.
As a kid, I used the briefcase as a normal folder (I think) just because the icon looked cooler.
Re: What the Hell Was the Microsoft Network? (2018)
#97Knoware (pun intended, probably), my first Internet provider, back in 1993, had a 9600 baud connection to the Internet, shared by all his customers. When I phoned the guy (late, as he worked at night and slept during the day) to get a login, his first question was: do you have a Mac? There was no TCP/IP stack for Windows back then (Trumpet Winsock only came out in 1994, and was not a Microsoft product). He had heard…
Although it was not installed by default, the original release of Windows 95 did feature tcp/ip as an option that could be installed from the cd: http://www.michusa.com/SupportFiles/win95ppp/win95.html
I started running a pre-release version in early 1995 and never had to install anything from the CD. Maybe it detected my off brand ne2000 network card and just installed it by default. Easy networking was my favorite part of windows 95 at the time.
Re: What the Hell Was the Microsoft Network? (2018)
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yep, now with touch screens it's even more hidden
Did anyone learn the double-click on their own? Inscrutable gestures can exist on any pointing device.
I worked with a older guy, a tester who had retrained from some other industry. He was pretty good, very thorough - but I noticed he had a strange habit - he double clicked everything, even web links. I guess he was just told that was the way of computers!
Re: What the Hell Was the Microsoft Network? (2018)
#99Definitely a forgotten program. Another one from that era (that actually survived until Win 10 I just learned) is the "Briefcase". It was basically a primitive file syncing tool for multiple devices.
The Briefcase was a godsend back when removable storage was used to move files between computers and there was no other way to keep things synced. It's a shame they removed it.
Never used Briefcase. I just remember being confused by it as a kid. I did, however, use Iomega Zip Drives to move large (at the time) files.
Re: What the Hell Was the Microsoft Network? (2018)
#100Never had cable but I still figure MSNBC is part of this long-abandoned system and wonder why it's still on the air, some kind of zombie?
The MSNBC website back in the 90s was actually pretty great. It had a menu system that would update with live headlines. It was really impressive (to me, at least) back then.
I think MSNBC began as a joint effort between Microsoft and GE, but Microsoft sold its stake a long time ago at this point. It's bizarre that MSNBC has kept the name, but I guess it has branding value at this point.