Netscape's Internet OS

Friday, May 22, 1998 by Dave Winer.

This is important and really simple.

The government has been spinning an incomplete story. The excerpts from the Microsoft emails, taken out of context, are misleading.

The context is available on the web, and if you look at the Microsoft emails they make sense in the context of what was being said publicly at the time.

This PC WEEK article, 6/17/96, is entitled "Andreessen eyes Internet OS".

http://www8.zdnet.com/pcweek/news/0617/17netsc.html

"The only difference technically between Netscape's Navigator browser and a traditional operating system is that Navigator will not include device drivers, Andreessen said."

The article outlines a complete operating system built around Navigator and Netscape's server products, with CORBA used for RPC, programming in Java and JavaScript, with all the components of Microsoft's product line. Except for device drivers, Netscape was going to reimplement Windows and all the important client apps.

In this context, the Microsoft emails make total sense.

http://cgi.pathfinder.com/time/daily/special/microsoft/quotes.html

Netscape was dominant in web browsers and was building an operating system into the browser. Their intentions are on the record.

Netscape was extending their product into Microsoft's space, and it seems that Microsoft could defend their product without breaking the law.

Dave Winer