Microsoft has prevented more progress than it has supported, but that's a corporate model that is sadly very common. In the marketplace of ideas, it often is not the best idea that wins out. The best idea, usually, is the simplest and most elegant.
I taught myself to hand-code XHTML and CSS, for which XyWrite often is a handy editor. You should see the cumbersome code created by ANY Microsoft program that touts itself as an HTML editor ... and especially Front Page. I have to conclude that this is deliberate, aimed at preventing other browsers from properly interpreting the proprietary code, and it slows the end user's experience while MS loads all its little widgets. And all those mind-numb robots called Microsoft Certified Engineers discourage the use of any other software, assuring that we'll stay in the Dark Ages of the Internet for some time to come.
So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm as much fun as Brian at parties.
Jeff