It's understated the impact that Encarta had on Microsoft dominance in the home computer market. Encarta came about at a time when internet access was not yet commonplace and "multimedia" PCs were next big thing. Amiga, Atari and Apple had CD-ROM drives but only the PC had Encarta. It was revolutionary for 90s teens with homework assignments. These days some might use the term "killer app" to describe it. Obviously there were many other factors that led to Wintel dominance, but Encarta certainly played a part.