Many years ago when Windows represented close to 100% of computing, before smartphones as we know them, Microsoft deliberately killed off competing browsers by bundling IE for free and coupling it so deeply with Windows you couldn't even uninstall it for the longest time. Just by being able to bundle their own software they had a huge competitive edge because to use anything else meant downloading browsers on dial-up internet, and they leveraged that to destroy all other browsers' market share.
The first browser war ended with Internet Explorer
having no remaining serious competition for its market
share. This also brought an end to the rapid innovation
in web browsers; until 2006 there was only one new
version of Internet Explorer since version 6.0 had been
released in 2001.
It wasn't until Firefox that browser competition emerged again then some years later Chrome followed. IE was so prolific iirc both Firefox and Chrome had extensions that would actually use IE6 or IE7 to power a tab so you could access sites with IE-only technology or support. After antitrust cases in the US and EU the software bundled with Windows didn't really grow in variety again, and we got browser selection choices and stuff forced upon Microsoft.
Today on iOS and Android where MS is only a publisher they compete on the merits of their software instead of unfairly leveraging the platform. We also see Twitter, Facebook, Apple and Amazon pretty wantonly leveraging their platforms against the people using them to displace them with official alternatives. I don't really feel like Google is or has been as predatory but might just be out of my purview.
And yet... Every smartphone on the market bundles a browser and none of them make it possible to disable or remove the browser from the rest of the OS today.
History has proven Microsoft's argument - a web browser is a core part of the modern operating system.
We can look back and see Microsoft was right to build a web browser, but more importantly we can see how abusing their platform was detrimental to us all.
On iOS you can use "parental controls" (Settings > General > Restrictions) to disable Safari. It removes Safari's icon from iOS's app launcher / home screen.
Just like add and remove features did in Windows of the era. However, the bundled Webkit components like system web view are not uninstalled, the icon for the front end is merely hidden
Only if you have on rose colored glasses. It was a point of nerd pride if your operating system could handle constant Netscape crashes well - Macs couldn’t.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_wars
It wasn't until Firefox that browser competition emerged again then some years later Chrome followed. IE was so prolific iirc both Firefox and Chrome had extensions that would actually use IE6 or IE7 to power a tab so you could access sites with IE-only technology or support. After antitrust cases in the US and EU the software bundled with Windows didn't really grow in variety again, and we got browser selection choices and stuff forced upon Microsoft.Today on iOS and Android where MS is only a publisher they compete on the merits of their software instead of unfairly leveraging the platform. We also see Twitter, Facebook, Apple and Amazon pretty wantonly leveraging their platforms against the people using them to displace them with official alternatives. I don't really feel like Google is or has been as predatory but might just be out of my purview.