Microsoft Edge as a Platform (MEP?)-The year 2000 MSN Companion’s descendant
After updating the only PC I have that can run Windows 11 (which only has an 18% adoption level 18 months after its release), the Microsoft Edge browser’s so-called “multitasking” sidebar brought something to mind that I couldn’t quite put a handle on… until… I found my ancient Compaq iPaq Home Internet Appliance built around the Windows CE-based MSN Companion during my on-going decluttering project.
Compaq MSN Companion
You can read the 2012 article I wrote for aNewDomain — Jurassic Tech: My MSN Companion Circa 2000 — for details and more photos of the MSN Companion. To quote myself for a summary:
The MSN Companion, the NIC and the Compaq iPaq were doomed, of course. These Internet clients arrived before the cloud — literally all you could do with them was surf the web. There were no web apps — even Sun’s pioneering Star Office set of office apps was four years away at the time.
As you might guess, the MSN Companion was designed to use services provided by the Microsoft Network (MSN). It had Internet Explorer 4 (IE 4) for web browsing, a Hotmail email client, MSN Messenger service (now know as Live Messenger), and shopping access.
At 10.1-inches, the Compaq iPaq display was slightly larger than Apple’s current iPad’s 9.7-inch display. And its res was only 800×600 pixels. It did provide some support for online Java applications.
Does this sound familiar? It should. The Google Chrome OS owes much, in my opinion, to the Microsoft MSN Companion concept.
And, what do we see in the updated Edge browser for Windows 11? A browser with a sidebar populated by Microsoft services. In essence, it is the MSN Companion brought forward nearly a quarter of a century. I was a fan of the MSN Companion concept at the turn of the century and a current fan of the Chromebook. There is something very appealing and practical about an always-available simple platform.
I am not, however, sure how these browser-as-a-platforms are going to be accepted. The independent Arc Browser project launched in beta for MacOS in late 2022. It generated a lot of interest among writers of tech news. But, I don’t have a feel for how non-tech-enthusiasts will think about it when it becomes available on more platforms.
Note: Back in the year 2000, I was a contractor to MSN running its Windows CE forum. The MSN Companion team gave me the Compaq iPaq Home Appliance after visiting them at the Redmond campus.
Erratum: I just fired up a Windows 10 laptop and updated it. The Edge browser also has a sidebar option under 10 — which makes sense.
