Microsoft held a dominant position in the PC OS market in the late 1990s with over 90% market share of Windows. They aggressively pursued maintaining their monopoly of Internet Explorer by technically integrating it with Windows and restricting OEMs from removing IE through licensing agreements. Microsoft used strong-arm tactics like threatening to terminate licenses and withhold future software versions from companies like IBM and Apple if they did not comply. They were able to leverage their dominance to force other companies like Compaq to exclusively promote Internet Explorer pre-installed on PCs.