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Netscape Goes Decaf (1/24/98)
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Hands up, who here remembers Netscape? They used to be pretty well known for their web browser, you know, before Microsoft's Internet Explorer got up to speed. Well, anyway, apparently a few people still use their browser, so it may interest you to know that Netscape is drastically reducing their Java development in an effort to reduce costs, following their recent shambles of a financial quarter. The San Jose Mercury News has some details.
Netscape was the very first company to license Sun's run-anywhere Java technology, and it was Netscape's support of Java that enticed many developers to embrace the language. Unfortunately, Netscape's implementation of the Java virtual machine is pretty slow-- especially on the Mac. And whenever they needed to update their JVM, they had to do it for seventeen different platforms-- not a happy task, by any account. So they're dropping that expensive prospect and leaving the development of better JVM's to other vendors. On the Mac side, for instance, future versions of Netscape will probably use Apple's Mac OS Runtime for Java, which we've wanted to be able to do for quite a while. Netscape's spin on the decision is that customers get better, faster Java more quickly. Microsoft's take on the whole thing is that Netscape is finally coming to its senses and realizing that no one actually wants Java. (Big shocker on that opinion.)
Incidentally, we know one market in which Internet Explorer isn't catching on so quickly: faithful viewers of AtAT. A few months ago we did a survey which showed that a whopping 85% of you used a Netscape browser. When analyzing our Nielsen logs a few days ago, we found that the percentage of the Netscape-enabled had only dropped to 79%. Apparently AtAT viewers are a little more discriminating about their software choices than most mere mortals. Oh, wait, did we say "discriminating?" Sorry, we meant to say "paranoid." Yes, Virginia, they are out to get you. RUN!
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SceneLink (389)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 1/24/98 episode: January 24, 1998: After the mysterious disappearance of Apple's high-end PowerExpress, the world awaits its powerful replacement with bated breath. Meanwhile, the starving masses trample women and children underfoot as they scramble to grab any G3 systems they can scrounge, while Netscape exits the stressful Java-development business amid much consternation and gnashing of teeth...
Other scenes from that episode: 387: ...But Not High Enough (1/24/98) Now that, by all reasonably believable accounts, Apple's PowerExpress project has been killed, folks are still waiting to see what G3-based systems will step in to stake their claim on the high end of the Mac lineup... 388: My Kingdom for a G3 (1/24/98) Of course, if you actually want to buy a G3 system instead of just drooling over its specs, you might have a harder time than you bargained for. MacInTouch says that many readers are reporting "availability problems" that are making Powermac G3's the "Sing 'n' Snore Ernie" of the computer world...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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