Top 10 Microsoft Moments

While the Internet was expanding by leaps and bounds, Microsoft waited on the sidelines. In TIME's "100 Most Important People of the Century" profile of Gates, Yale computer-science professor David Gelernter wrote that while the rest of the technology world was getting excited about e-mail and Web-browsing, "Gates hung back. It wasn't until 1996 that Microsoft finally, according to Gates himself, 'embraced the Internet wholeheartedly.' "

In August of that year, Microsoft released Internet Explorer 3.0., instilling fear in its competitors. Despite the dotcom crash of 2000, the company's head count climbed to more than 39,000.