A person could choose to buy one of several competing operating systems, and again choose from among many competing application programs. Once Microsoft gained market dominance for its desktop PC operating system, it gradually choked off competition in the applications software market by throwing roadblocks in the way of other company's products and by bundling inexpensive versions of its own applications with its operating system. Every time Microsoft came out with a new version of its operating system, it made sure the road was smooth for its own products, but full of potholes and detours for competing products. As Microsoft was busy gaining a monopoly stranglehold on desktop operating systems and applications, the Unix community was busy developing the Internet. The Linux operating system is a version of Unix specifically designed for, and by means of, the Internet.
More web sites run on Linux than on any other operating system.
To deal with the Internet, Microsoft came out with its Internet Explorer, a web browser application package that competed with Netscape Navigator and other web browsers designed to allow desktop computers to access the Internet. But Microsoft again used its same successful tactics to eliminate its competition here, and that's when the Justice Department sought and won a monopoly judgment against Microsoft. An operating system can be compared to a national highway system. Application software would then be analogous to the cars that run on the highways. The Internet can be thought of as a super-fast system of signs, maps, directories and cell phones that can get you from any point on the road to your desired destination.