Netscape 8.0 Partly Based on Archrival
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
Seven years after it was surpassed by Microsoft Corp.’s Web browser, industry pioneer Netscape is coming out with a version based in part on Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.
Netscape 8.0, set to be released today, uses the core technology in the upstart Firefox browser to display some Web pages and shows others using a version of Internet Explorer. The radically redesigned software -- which, like its largest competitors, is free -- seeks to sell itself as the best of both, combining the familiarity of Microsoft’s browser with the security of Firefox.
Although Netscape parent Time Warner Inc. donated the code from earlier editions of Netscape to the foundation overseeing Firefox, engineers volunteering their time on the browser project started nearly from scratch.
As a result, Netscape 8.0 has more in common with longtime archrival Explorer than it does with past versions of Netscape.
The unusual tactic comes after Netscape’s share of browsers in use -- a market it virtually created a decade ago -- has fallen to less than 2.5% of the U.S. market, according to consulting firm WebSideStory.
Firefox, meanwhile, has proved that security problems have made Explorer vulnerable to new entrants. The browser, built with freely available “open source” code, has won a 6.8% share since its November introduction and has been downloaded more than 50 million times.
Microsoft included Explorer with the Windows operating system in the late 1990s, devastating Netscape and triggering the U.S. Justice Department’s landmark antitrust suit against Microsoft. The two sides later settled.
Even after Time Warner’s America Online Inc. bought Netscape, it continued to provide AOL subscribers a modified version of Explorer under license with Microsoft. By then, Explorer was not only more popular but also more often seen as technically superior.
AOL users will continue to use the Microsoft-based browser. But Netscape general manager Jeremy Liew said Explorer’s vulnerability to spyware and viruses opened the door to competition again.
The new Netscape will open 150,000 “trusted” websites with Explorer. Sites known to be used by scam artists won’t open or will appear with their interactive features turned off. Unknown sites will open with Firefox unless a user indicates otherwise.
“It’s security on a number of levels,” Liew said. He said Netscape would more than recoup its investment through a share in the sales of advertisements accompanying search results.
The booming market for search-related ads is making possible a wide range of innovation such as Netscape’s, Jupitermedia analyst Joe Wilcox said.
“The dual engine is a real nice touch,” he said. “It solves a legitimate problem.”
Microsoft declined to comment. An improved version of Explorer is set for a test release this summer.
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Few alternatives
Internet browsers’ share of U.S. market as of April 29:
Internet Explorer: 89%
Firefox: 7%
Netscape, other Mozilla browsers: 2%
Others: 2%
Source: WebSideStory
