[pianoben]

Of course that's only half the story - Microsoft invents amazing things, and promptly fails to capitalize on them.

AJAX, that venerable piece of kit that enabled every dynamic web-app ever, was a Microsoft invention. It didn't really take off, though, until Google made some maps with it.

[canucker2016]

That would segue into a discussion about NetDocs at Microsoft.

background - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajax_(programming) - 1998, XMLHttpRequest appears.

NetDocs vs Office - https://hardcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com/p/064-the-st...

Resolving NetDocs vs Office [Spoiler Alert - if you don't know about NetDocs, there's a big reason which tells you who "won" this fight] - https://hardcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com/p/071-resolv...

Aftermath - https://www.eweek.com/development/netdocs-succumbs-to-xp/