We've come a long way from then but, to me, it doesn't seem that long ago. Â The ownership of our various web properties now falls under the mantle of the marketing organization, with a world wide team of experts, and there are many more nuances to web design, SEO, lead generation, etc. than was ever thought of back in those early days.
Take a journey with me back in time. Â Take a look at some things that may jog some memories as it has for me. Â Please keep your arms and legs inside the car at all times for the duration of the ride:
The Novell web site in 1996:Â http://web.archive.org/web/19961022175108/http://www.novell.com/
The Novell web site in 2001:Â http://web.archive.org/web/20010831103138/http://www.novell.com/
The SUSE web site in 1996: http://web.archive.org/web/19961226120930/http://suse.com/
The SUSE web site in 1997:Â http://web.archive.org/web/19970709042628/http://www.suse.com/
The SUSE web site in 2001: http://web.archive.org/web/20010417153901/http://www.suse.com/
The NetIQ web site in 1996:Â http://web.archive.org/web/19980202011118/http://www.netiq.com/
The NetIQ web site in 2001:http://web.archive.org/web/20010301082545/http://www.netiq.com/
The Micro Focus web site in 1997:Â http://web.archive.org/web/19970127013446/http://www.microfocus.com/
The Micro Focus web site in 2001:Â http://web.archive.org/web/20010617152652/http://www.merant.com/products/microfocus/
And now for a shocker, the Google web site in 1998: http://web.archive.org/web/19981202230410/http://www.google.com/ which you can contrast to what it is now.  Obviously, they haven’t been dedicating a lot of resources from web design since they first came online. :-)
We now return you to the ever so complicated present. Â I hope you've enjoyed the ride along with me.
My computer used to beat me a chess all the time ..... until I changed the competition to kick boxing.