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Technology Stocks : MSFT Internet Explorer vs. NSCP Navigator -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Daniel Schuh who wrote (16654)	1/23/1998 9:47:00 AM
From: Daniel Schuh	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 24154

Analysis: A Concession and a Push in Browser War nytimes.com Maybe the trades didn't pick up on the free source announcement yesterday, but the Good Gray Times did, and gives it a big two cheers at least. We lead with a summary: Microsoft blinked Thursday in a pragmatic, if belated, gesture that concedes one tactical skirmish to the government in its high-stakes antitrust battle with the software giant. But by giving personal computer makers the option of erasing its Internet browser icon from the face of its Windows operating system, Microsoft Corp. gave not an inch on any of the larger issues in the case. Whether Microsoft is violating its 1995 consent decree by tying one product to another is something the courts must decide in the months ahead, while the Justice Department is also weighing a broader antitrust suit against the software giant. Thursday's settlement, by itself, will have little effect on the competitive landscape in the computer industry. Because of its dominance of the crucial operating system market, Microsoft is already a powerhouse in the new market for Internet software. Ok, so we know all that. The more significant announcement for the software business, industry analysts agree, came a few hours later from Netscape Communications Corp., Microsoft's main rival in the browser market. . . . But the more surprising move by Netscape was that it would freely license the basic computer code for its browser products to outsiders and let them tailor the Netscape technology for their own use. This means that software developers -- from professional programmers in big companies to 14-year-old hobbyists -- can fine-tune Netscape's programs, giving it their own look and feel. The free licensing -- far more than the Washington settlement -- could open the door for Netscape's technology being the preferred browser used by personal computer makers. The new strategy will allow, say, Compaq, Dell or Gateway 2000 to modify the Netscape browser and even put their own brand on it. If the PC makers decided to do that, it could break Microsoft's lock on the desktop brand that users see when they turn on their computers -- Windows and Internet Explorer. "This could open up the desktop to competition, and that could be a huge opportunity for Netscape," said Bruce D. Smith, a software analyst with Merrill Lynch & Co. . . . The practice of free distribution of software code is a step back to origins of Netscape, which grew out of a team of young programmers at the University of Illinois supercomputer center. The early ethos of the Internet embraced the free distribution of software, as did the pioneer computer hackers of the 1970s. And as a start-up company, Netscape built a following for its Navigator browser and Communicator software with a strategy of free sampling. "This is a very powerful play by Netscape," said James F. Moore, president of Geopartners Research Inc., a consulting company in Cambridge, Mass. "The company is going back to its roots. Netscape grew so rapidly because it first created a community and that community became a force." Oh dear, the Silicon Valley guys go communitarian. Sounds like the international ilk conspiracy at work again to me. Anyway, sounds good to me too. Long live free software! Long live the free internet! Stallman rules, Microsoft drools! Well, at least till we see some source being given away. Bill, free your Windows! Bwaaahahahahahahaha!!!! Cheers, Dan.