[ThrowawayB7]

My take on it would be that Microsoft had as much influence (dominating the desktop) but over a much smaller domain (much fewer computers, the internet was just taking off, and smartphones/tablets weren't a thing yet). In that era, more or less only techies cared about Microsoft's antics. From the public's perspective, the only time they had any reason to think about Microsoft as a company was when their computer BSODed. It wasn't an constantly in your face brand the way Facebook, Google, Amazon, Twitter, etc. is today for pretty much everyone.