Browser Rivalry Intensifies, Survey Says

Netscape Communications Corp. still led the Web browser market for the third quarter of 1997 with 57.6% of sales, but Microsoft Corp.’s share has roughly doubled in nine months, to 39.4%, according to a survey by Dataquest Inc. Mountain View, Calif.-based Netscape had 73% of the market at the end of 1996. An analyst at the San Jose-based research firm noted that the latest figures were taken at the end of September, when Microsoft’s latest version of its browser, Internet Explorer 4.0, had just begun shipping. Netscape, with its Navigator, pioneered the commercial market for Web browsers. Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft has been making aggressive efforts to sell its own browser--attracting an antitrust action by the U.S. Justice Department last month. Microsoft has said the U.S. suit lacks merit.