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By Jim Forbes
Given the intensity of the Netscape/Micro-soft browser wars, you'd never know the products are either free or fairly cheap. But browsers are a key gateway to Internet dominance, and that makes for nasty rivalry.
In August, just a few days after both companies had launched the latest versions of their browsers, Netscape fired a veritable salvo at its foe from Redmond. It filed a formal complaint with the Department of Justice alleging that Microsoft had violated its 1994 consent decree by, among other things, charging PC makers $3 extra per unit to load Windows 95 if they wanted to bundle both Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. Microsoft countered that Netscape was trying to enlist the government's help in a competitive marketplace.
Of course, the question of antitrust goes far beyond browsers. The real issue revolves around how far Microsoft can go in leveraging its dominance in the operating system market without engaging in monopolistic practices.
Yet while Microsoft strives to turn its OS into a browser, Netscape is equally determined to turn its browser into an OS. In alliance with several companies, Netscape launched Navio Communications, an offshoot whose specific charter is "to provide browsers for consumer electronics devices." That means everything from PCs and PDAs to game platforms.
Netscape's Navio partners are a diverse bunch: game developers Sega and Nintendo, database leader Oracle, consumer technology wizards NEC and Sony, and all-purpose giant IBM. Still, Navio got its initial funding from Netscape, which will call the shots for a while.
Navio's browser technology, based on Navigator, will probably have several different flavors, each one's features dictated by the underlying hardware. Company officials say the technology should first appear on a new generation of devices-most likely game platforms-as early as this time next year.
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