Well, not dissing Netscape users would be the rational way to go and it's been done before...but there's always the possibility that AOL could be a little irrational... That's what worries me. But we're living through change and most people don't like sudden surprises

I rather see, AOL give Communicator more market share keeping the web open.

And this will allow AOL to become the #1 media gaint! MSN.com will never be #1, unless Microsoft buys Yahoo, which i don't think they will because of the DOJ!

plus i own both stocks, so this is great for me!!! ;)

Hello, McFly, anybody home?!

If AOL becomes the #1 media gigant, what's the gain?!?! We are not fighting against a name here (M$) but against its evil business practice and poor software. As a matter of fact, AOL is much, much worse than Micro$oft! AOL is a fucking piece of dirty slime. They stink. They are not even a nerd company, as M$, they are only a spamming advertising ISP.

At lease Micro$oft is one of ours, a Jedi knight turned into the dark side of the force, but still hackers deep inside. AOL is a puke.

I'd rather see Nescape bought by Micro$soft. At least that would have beed an honorable death, as a samuray deserves...

;-((

PS: Please stop your idiot stock joke, it makes me seek.

While I don't have the same vigor as John Doe, I would like to point everyone to an article out at slashdot that talks about this very point. The like is:

http://slashdot.org/features/98/11/23/1248251.shtml

oh who cares what the #1 portal is. I only look at Netcenter for about a second or two. I just want a browser to browse the other 99.99999999% of the web. The people who like portals will get a better portal. Better portals. Better browsers. Everyone is happy.

The purchase of Netscape by AOL makes strategic sense. Combining their portals, better prepares them to compete with the breath of Microsoft's online offerings. Also, AOL's bundling of Navigator with their software would surely restore Netscape's market share. However, the browser has become more than just an interface to the web. It is the client to the new world of enterprise web based applications like Ariba's, Extensity's, and many more to come. This new paradigm of application development leaves behind the complexities of client/server in favor of a fixed browser client no matter what program you use. The deployment cost savings alone justifies its appeal. However, when a company decides to spend upwards of a million dollars to install an enterprise web based application, you can understand the resistance they would have in using a consumer-oriented AOL Navigator as the client to their enterprise application. Although an AOL purchase would be good for consumers, it definitely would help Microsoft's case in the enterprise arena. I sure would hate to see my choice of browser options severely limited due to its association to its owner rather then its technical limitations. The ideal situation would be for Netscape to sell its portal (Netcenter) to AOL in exchange for AOL bundling Navigator with its software and for its browser, SuiteSpot, CommerceXpert software be sold to an Enterprise Software Provider like Oracle, Sun, IBM, or even Computer Associates. This would be a win win situation for all involved including consumers and businesses.

I have to agree with Mr. Pereira. As an intranet developer for an enterprise that has standardized on Netscape clients and Enterprise server for our Intranet, this deal worries me. I have no faith in AOL and barely more than that for Sun. Sun has not convinced me they will do anything healthy with Netscape's server applications. Sun tends to sell very expensive hardware (when it can sell anythign at all) and their positions on Java seem very fickle.

As for AOL, if they don't embed Navigator into their browser (and I have read they will stick to IE) why buy Navigator at all? Simply to drive people to a portal. Will they continue to support versions for non-Windows and non-Macintosh computers? I doubt it. There's not any profit in developing for Unix, Linux, Be, etc. and then giving the product away. What exactly has AOL developed? Their strength is in marketing and catering to newbies. Don't be suprised if 2-3 years down the road you'll see banner ads embedded into all their software (Instant Messenger, ICQ, and now Navigator). The rest of the net is nothing to them.

I don't understand why people cheer this buyout as something competitive to MS. The cold war wasn't that much fun and I doubt a scenario of AOL vs MS with the battleground being the internet will be any better.

In response to the comments from Paul Pereira and A Zimmerman re using Navigator in the enterprise: We in the Netscape direct field sales group who sell to and support major accounts are quite aware of the importance of having a client program that's suitable for use in enterprise intranet and extranet applications apart from whatever role it might have in supporting consumer Internet services. I can't guarantee anything about the exact feature set in future versions of Communicator/Navigator, but we'll certainly exert any influence we have to make those future versions suitable for enterprise use.

There is no optimism in this deal. It sucks no matter how you cut it up.