Ready to rumble? - @ Work - Netscape Navigator vs. Internet Explorer - Brief Article

T+D, August, 2002 by William Powell

If you missed the first browser war between Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Netscape's Navigator, you didn't miss much. Netscape, the early leader, quickly lost its share of the market to a determined Microsoft, whose bundling of IE with Microsoft Windows was controversial. Now, Netscape plays second fiddle to Microsoft I]E, which holds a 70 percent share of the market, according to Jupiter Media Metrix, though other analysts would wager it's considerably more.

AOL Time Warner's US$4.2 billion purchase of the foundering Netscape in 1999 had many loyal users excited, but a lackluster release of Netscape's 6.0 update, and AOL's continued use of IE as its chosen browser, seemed to slam the door shut on Navigator's reemergence as a contender. However, a few recent developments have many Netscape fans heralding Navigator's return.

First, AOL's contract to use IE expired in January 2001. Then last fall, AOL began testing Netscape Navigator with its CompuServe service and, most recently, with its AOL 7.0. Perhaps the most encouraging indication that a switch could be under way is the recent release of Navigator 7.0. The preview version is already receiving positive reviews for its speed and added features. Most notable are the tight-knit integration of AOL services, such as AOL Instant Messenger and the Unix-based Gecko page-rendering engine that's said to be more secure than the one tied directly to the Windows operating system. In fact, Navigator 7.0 works with Windows, Macintosh, and Unix. Also included in the update are an enhanced mail client; tabbed browsing, which opens multiple, tabbed Webpages within a single browser window; and a feature borrowed from Opera's browser: the ability to perform a Web search on certain words by highlighting and then right-clicking on them.

AOL executives have been reticent to announce IE's replacement with Navigator in its version 8.0 release (due out later this year), but it's hard to believe that AOL won't seize this opportunity to be free of Microsoft and incorporate an in-house browser that, in terms of features, competes as well. Of course, you don't have to wait until this fall or be a user of AOL to take advantage of the new browser. A free version of preview release 1.0 is available online

www.netscape.com.

Let the browser war begin.

William Powell is an associate editor of T D; wpowell@astd.com.