References:www.apple.com
www.lotus.com
www.microsoft.com |
|
Last week was filled with some very
interesting news from the PC world. The biggest news of all had to be Macworld in Boston
and Steve Job's keynote address. As part of the plan to steer Apple out of its current
troubled waters, a new partnership with Microsoft was announced. The essence of the
partnership involved Apple dropping its litigation against Microsoft concerning the
"look and feel" of the MacOS and its use in Windows, Microsoft providing a cash
infusion of $150M in non-voting stock (to be held for at least three years) and $100M of
in-kind support, and the bundling of Internet Explorer 4 (IE4) as the default browser for
the MacOS for five-years. Under a pre-existing distribution agreement, Apple will
continue to bundle Navigator as well, but this has to hurt Netscape. They have been taking
it in the chin (and in the virtual wallet) quite a bit recently as IE4 becomes the de
facto browser nearly everywhere: MacOS, Lotus Notes, and of course all flavors of
Windows. Earlier this year, Chevron decided to switch from Netscape Navigator to Internet
Explorer on 25,000 desktops. More recently, consultancy KPMG Peat Marwick LLP decided to
swap 18,000 copies of Navigator (and a SuiteSpot back-end system) for Explorer. In fact,
KPMG also announced it would create a consulting group devoted to Microsoft standards and
technology. Seems Intuit is also switching from Navigator to IE. All this gives the phrase
"Web Buddies" a whole new meaning (apologies to DataViz).
Putting IE4 on the MacOS is a big move for both Apple and Microsoft. But, to my mind,
the real kicker is the incorporation of IE4 into Lotus Notes. Remember that Lotus is a
subsidiary of IBM, which has not had a wonderful relationship with Microsoft in recent
years. Netscape Navigator is the bundled browser with IBM's flagship OS/2 Warp 4 operating
system. One wonders how long that will last.
The browser engine of IE4 will become part of the Lotus Notes 5.0 client, which is due
January 1998, and Lotus’ Domino 5.0 server will support Microsoft’s Active
Server Pages. IE4's support of Dynamic HTML and the evolving HTML 4.0 standard,
"push" technologies using Channel Definition Format (CDF), and component-based
technology (ActiveX, Java applets, and so on) seem to have convinced Lotus that
Microsoft's offering was the way to go. That, and the fact that even though Lotus
originally had a similar agreement with Netscape and its Navigator browser, Netscape
wouldn't unbundle its browser from the groupware portions of Netscape Communicator 4,
which would have competed with similar offerings from Lotus. Talk about shooting yourself
in the foot. Netscape now says it will release a "stripped-down" (4-5MB)
Navigator 4 browser with NetCaster push components in the near future. Seems a bit late
for that though.
It is also an open question whether or not the Microsoft and Apple alliance will cause
the Justice Department to take another look at Microsoft on antitrust grounds. As Steve
Job's himself said, "Apple plus Microsoft equals 100 percent of the desktop market.
Whatever Apple and Microsoft decide to do, it's a standard." Sounds very close to a
monopoly to me. However, no one is stopping Netscape from bundling their products with
those of others, if they so choose.
More information is available at:
From Interactive Week, Wall Street Journal, CyberDigest, C|Net, ZD Net, and other
sources. |
![[Line]](../images/Turquoise_and_GrayB150.gif){kind=small}
