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HP to Install Netscape on all new PCs
TJ Parisi writes "News.com is reporting that HP / Compaq will begin to install all PCs sold in the US and Canada with Netscape. Users will be prompted with the option to set either Netscape or IE as the default browser." From the article: "The agreement, which the companies are set to announce Monday, is the first browser distribution deal with a major PC maker since the end of the browser wars in the 1990s, according to Netscape, a division of Time Warner's America Online subsidiary."
"We specifically chose the Netscape browser because od its ability to run both the Triton (IE) and Gecko (Firefox) rendering engines" Sounds like a smart move on part of HP. Does opera allow choosing multiple rendering engines?
Yes, but the browser wars were started because Netscape got uppity and played 'chicken' with Microsoft. Andreesen got up on the stage and started hyping web applications as if it would replace Microsoft. This 'woke up the bear' who then went on a rampage. Which is NOT to excuse Microsoft, just to point out Netscape wasn't the 'good guy' either.
Remember, Netscape hoped to own the web. They were the ones who first started introducing non-standard tags and features that only their server technology could serve up to their browser. They were NOT the good guys, just one of the elephants fighting in the commons and stomping on the little guys.
resigned
Netscape inludes firefox rendering, and you can easily set it during install/1st config to never use IE engine.
Why Netscape? AOL has the clout to make the deal and support Netscape for free. If HP will install it, they must have some support for problems. With Netscape, they can pass the buck to AOL. That and they probably needed the nudge.
As for MS, they just lost re: netscape and antitrust so they aren't going to openly oppose this.
This is very good news as many people simply use the browser that comes with their PC. They may have heard about Netscape and Firefox, but they probably will never download it.
If it's on their PC, they will probably try it and hopefully use it.
Having a non IE browser installed by default with the PC is the best way to increase market share.
Hopefully this will pressure other manufacturers to follow suit.
Ryan
Netscape is Firefox with a crappier interface and jammed full of commercialized tie-ins to AOL/Netscape. It was a terrible choice to include instead of Firefox.