because Microsoft was threatening to sue all the Linux vendors shipping Windows 95-like desktops.

In the end MS did not sue anyone... but it got what it wanted: total chaos in the Linux desktop world.

I never knew about this part of history. This probably contributed to the amount of hate M$ get from the community.

The interpretation in this article may not be true. See more discussion in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32257412.