The second big event in the Browser Wars today was Netscape's announcement that it will be giving away its client software. Navigator and Communicator are now free. ("Weren't they always?" asks the guy who never reads README files or license agreements. No, you dork.) Details are available in a ZDNet article.

The decision to give away their software comes hot on the heels of Netscape's recent dismal quarterly results, which led to a layoff of some 400 jobs. Netscape's financial woes were due to a single entity-- Microsoft, who's been giving away Internet Explorer for years now. What better way to recapture market share than to fight fire with fire? But Netscape goes even one better; they're also going to give away the source code to their browsers to any developer who wants to see it. That decision is probably even more significant than the decision to make the browser free; soon, anyone who wants to can adapt Netscape code for their own browsers and other internet products.

So in one day, suddenly Microsoft is shipping Windows 95 without Internet Explorer, and Netscape is giving away its browser. When we look back on this in a year, will we remember this as the day that the tables turned? After years of Microsoft chipping away at Netscape's market share, these developments may mark the turning point that will change the state of browser competition forever. Remember, Netscape's source code will be available to anyone for free-- we bet there will be a lot more browser choices in a year's time, putting an end to the two-party system of Microsoft and Netscape. (Opera's our best bet for a Perot-like wildcard.) Does this mean that we might see a Navigator part for CyberDog after all?