Microsoft has a long, deep history of using monopolistic tricks to undermine potential competition, in the browser world as well as other application domains. A great recent article that goes into much detail on aspects of that effort is
‘Crush Them’: An Oral History of the Lawsuit That Upended Silicon Valley
Twenty years ago, Microsoft tried to eliminate its competition in the race for the future of the internet. The government had other ideas.
By Victor Luckerson May 18, 2018, 6:30am EDT
My favorite event in the big trial is only briefly alluded to in the above article:
"Microsoft’s legal team seemed comparatively unprepared, according to many people who followed the case closely. They made several unforced errors, including showing a video demonstration of a Windows user deleting Internet Explorer that appeared to be doctored."
What happened is that the M$ lawyers showed a purported video of a Windows desktop screen to demonstrate what happens when they deleted IE from the system. However, observers in the courtroom noticed that various extraneous icons on the desktop were appearing and disappearing at random during what was supposed to have been a continuous interaction with the system. That was evidence that the video had been edited to artificially support the lawyers' point, which was not borne out in reality.
Also, search the net for the phrase internet explorer blocked firefox for testimonials of IE apparently playing tricks with Firefox downloads akin to the reported Bing vs. Chrome problem.
