How much more difficult would that have been if IE wasn't included by default with Windows?
In fact back in the 90s, my Linux box would only receive updates via magazine cover disks.
No, I'm not saying Microsoft should have done anything specific. My post quite clearly says that a lot of useful software was still easily available to those who's internet access was a premium; and nothing more.
However now I think about it, I'm pretty sure I got my copy of Internet Explorer 4 (the one that integrated IE's Triedent engine into Windows Explorer) from a .Net magazine* cover CD. So it's not like browsers weren't also distributed via the aforementioned method.
(*not to be confused with Microsoft .NET)
> Where and how do they draw the line to being a useful distribution and alienating their users? For example, certain ICMP utilities were included by default with Windows.
Now you're just arguing for the sake of having an argument.