FireFox: Foxing the Internet Explorer
The invention of World Wide Web by Tim Berners Lee in 1991 changed the face of technology and the exchange of information. Internet was a disruptive technology providing the users with infinite possibilities and uncountable opportunities. In these 13 years we have experienced all the possible business cycles in the internet companies.WWW also led to the use of a new interface called the browser which is an essential software required to surf the web. The earliest browser called the Mozilla browser(www.mozilla.org) was an Open Source Software available for free but had its own limitations to access the web.
The limitations of Mozilla provided an opportunity to develop a new browser which should be able to address the changing technical requirements of the websites on the internet. From plain html websites to the addition of scripts on the page to providing users with a unique experience, a company called Netscape was born. It was a huge opportunity and James Andreesen the thoughtful entrepreneur , a visionary could see the importance of the browser and the internet. He was a key member of the team that worked on the Mozilla project and understood the technicalities and the business aspects of the internet as well as the browser market.
In 1994 , Netscape was born and it started giving the advanced browser for free. In a few months the company went public and the share price soared. The market capitalisation was unbelievable and James Andreesen was a pioneer in the new breed of entrepreneurs to take the internet forward.Microsoft's Bill Gates missed the internet bus by ignoring the new technology. For 2 years till 1996 Netscape was the only browser in the market. The Internet explorer although introduced by then was no way comparable with Netscape in terms of the features offered .
By 1996 Netscape had 97-98% of the market share of the browser market. The rest of the users still relied on Mozilla. The introduction of Internet Explorer in 1996 by Microsoft and the use of bundling strategy by tightly integrating the explorer in the Windows operating system started the so called " Browser Wars". This is undoubtedly the most exciting war fought on the internet turf. An interesting book was published to capture the incidents occuring between the year 1996 to 1998 when the market share of Netscape dropped from 97% to less than 15% and the market share had a coreresponding increase for the Internet Explorer. The book titled " Competing on Internet Time" provided a sequel of incidents which happened both at Netscape and Microsoft to hold the Internet turf. It also described the fact that competitive advantage can be gained or lost in the internet very fast.
We all know what happened after 1998 when the share price of Netscape plummeted and it was eventually bought by AOL. This marked an end of another creative company of the internet , another victim of the Microsoft hegemony. For 5 long years after that version after version Microsoft improved the Internet Explorer to gain a near 100 % market share in the browser market. The company of the size of Micsrosoft proved yet again that if they decide to go against a product or a company they have the might to kill the same with their sheer size.
Since then Microsoft has been expanding its wings to capture the internet. Product after product from IE to hotmail to msn.com to passport to msn messenger to media player to msn TV , there is hardly any area of the internet which Microsoft has not captured. The Open Source community has been monitoring Microsoft's monopolistic strategies on various product fronts and has been trying to regain the lost ground by providing state of the art products to counter Micrsoft on the Operating System and now on the browser.
The same Mozilla which has continued to improve the existing browser year after year has launched the Firefox browser a few weeks back. After 6 million downloads since its launch and smooth integration with almost all versions of Windows , Firefox has started the next level of " Browser War". Netscape made some serious mistakes by forgetting that they are still a start up and underestimating Microsoft's power to comeup with parallel products which has been proven over and again. Firefox which is still an Open Source and free for use is banking on the security threats diagnosed in the Internet Explorer recently. This will provide them with ready acceptance as the code for Firfox is available and can be made as secure as possible for governments and companies seeing IE as a threat on the security front.
The tabbed browsing feature offered by Firefox differntiates itself from IE and the same is also available with Opera, another internet browser popular in Europe.Mozilla is looking for companies who will provide a branded version of Firefox by developing customizable browser requirements according to the security needs of different companies. Rumour is still in the IT sector that google should adapt Firefox to provide browser and integrating the advertising through the browser, a claim which has not been acknowledged by google. Google in the past registered Gbrowser a domain name which leads people to think that google is eyeing on the browser market to capture more eyeballs through a product which is a gateway to the internet.
The developments in the next few months will provide us with more details on the popularity of the Firefox and product comparisons will determine the shift of the users. The Internet Browser has low switching costs and has huge network effects if considering the economics of the internet. If the rumours are true and google is eyeing on the browser market , Firefox could be the next big thing after the search engine initiative of Google. The war has just begun and internet time is ticking.If Firefox will be able to become another offering from Google and it is able to monetize the browser by delivering cutomized advertisements with each browser click both Firefox and Google will benefit out of this relationship. Netscape was the first pure internet company and Google could take the tradition forward by becoming another pure play internet company.
A lot more is going to happen in the near future on the OS and the search front. The proposed launch of LongHorn the next generation of the Windows Operating System by Micrsoft in 2006 will be another big event for the computer industry. Will Firefox regain the lost market share of Netscape and establish an Open Source presence in the browser market or will it stumble as yet another product from the OSS community ? A lot more is going to happen in the year 2005 , so keep an eye on the browser market. If you haven't tried Firefox it is available for free at www.mozilla.org . Go ahead try it and then you will be able to decide to continue using IE or switch to Firefox.
The limitations of Mozilla provided an opportunity to develop a new browser which should be able to address the changing technical requirements of the websites on the internet. From plain html websites to the addition of scripts on the page to providing users with a unique experience, a company called Netscape was born. It was a huge opportunity and James Andreesen the thoughtful entrepreneur , a visionary could see the importance of the browser and the internet. He was a key member of the team that worked on the Mozilla project and understood the technicalities and the business aspects of the internet as well as the browser market.
In 1994 , Netscape was born and it started giving the advanced browser for free. In a few months the company went public and the share price soared. The market capitalisation was unbelievable and James Andreesen was a pioneer in the new breed of entrepreneurs to take the internet forward.Microsoft's Bill Gates missed the internet bus by ignoring the new technology. For 2 years till 1996 Netscape was the only browser in the market. The Internet explorer although introduced by then was no way comparable with Netscape in terms of the features offered .
By 1996 Netscape had 97-98% of the market share of the browser market. The rest of the users still relied on Mozilla. The introduction of Internet Explorer in 1996 by Microsoft and the use of bundling strategy by tightly integrating the explorer in the Windows operating system started the so called " Browser Wars". This is undoubtedly the most exciting war fought on the internet turf. An interesting book was published to capture the incidents occuring between the year 1996 to 1998 when the market share of Netscape dropped from 97% to less than 15% and the market share had a coreresponding increase for the Internet Explorer. The book titled " Competing on Internet Time" provided a sequel of incidents which happened both at Netscape and Microsoft to hold the Internet turf. It also described the fact that competitive advantage can be gained or lost in the internet very fast.
We all know what happened after 1998 when the share price of Netscape plummeted and it was eventually bought by AOL. This marked an end of another creative company of the internet , another victim of the Microsoft hegemony. For 5 long years after that version after version Microsoft improved the Internet Explorer to gain a near 100 % market share in the browser market. The company of the size of Micsrosoft proved yet again that if they decide to go against a product or a company they have the might to kill the same with their sheer size.
Since then Microsoft has been expanding its wings to capture the internet. Product after product from IE to hotmail to msn.com to passport to msn messenger to media player to msn TV , there is hardly any area of the internet which Microsoft has not captured. The Open Source community has been monitoring Microsoft's monopolistic strategies on various product fronts and has been trying to regain the lost ground by providing state of the art products to counter Micrsoft on the Operating System and now on the browser.
The same Mozilla which has continued to improve the existing browser year after year has launched the Firefox browser a few weeks back. After 6 million downloads since its launch and smooth integration with almost all versions of Windows , Firefox has started the next level of " Browser War". Netscape made some serious mistakes by forgetting that they are still a start up and underestimating Microsoft's power to comeup with parallel products which has been proven over and again. Firefox which is still an Open Source and free for use is banking on the security threats diagnosed in the Internet Explorer recently. This will provide them with ready acceptance as the code for Firfox is available and can be made as secure as possible for governments and companies seeing IE as a threat on the security front.
The tabbed browsing feature offered by Firefox differntiates itself from IE and the same is also available with Opera, another internet browser popular in Europe.Mozilla is looking for companies who will provide a branded version of Firefox by developing customizable browser requirements according to the security needs of different companies. Rumour is still in the IT sector that google should adapt Firefox to provide browser and integrating the advertising through the browser, a claim which has not been acknowledged by google. Google in the past registered Gbrowser a domain name which leads people to think that google is eyeing on the browser market to capture more eyeballs through a product which is a gateway to the internet.
The developments in the next few months will provide us with more details on the popularity of the Firefox and product comparisons will determine the shift of the users. The Internet Browser has low switching costs and has huge network effects if considering the economics of the internet. If the rumours are true and google is eyeing on the browser market , Firefox could be the next big thing after the search engine initiative of Google. The war has just begun and internet time is ticking.If Firefox will be able to become another offering from Google and it is able to monetize the browser by delivering cutomized advertisements with each browser click both Firefox and Google will benefit out of this relationship. Netscape was the first pure internet company and Google could take the tradition forward by becoming another pure play internet company.
A lot more is going to happen in the near future on the OS and the search front. The proposed launch of LongHorn the next generation of the Windows Operating System by Micrsoft in 2006 will be another big event for the computer industry. Will Firefox regain the lost market share of Netscape and establish an Open Source presence in the browser market or will it stumble as yet another product from the OSS community ? A lot more is going to happen in the year 2005 , so keep an eye on the browser market. If you haven't tried Firefox it is available for free at www.mozilla.org . Go ahead try it and then you will be able to decide to continue using IE or switch to Firefox.
posted by AG & HDG at 10:31 AM
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