Netscape Communications Corp. said it will stop charging for its Navigator browser - and will give away the source code for the next major revision of the software.
"Netscape is no longer a browser only company," CEO Jim Barksdale said today. "Our stand alone browser is only 13% of revenue as compared to 45% one year ago. The time is right for us to take the bold action of making our client free."
Left unsaid was the steady inroads in Netscape's once dominant browser position by Microsoft, which has always given away its Internet Explorer browser. Ironically, Microsoft was simply copying Netscape, which initially gave away its browser to build up market share.
Barksdale said the company will release source code for Navigator 5.0 on the Internet by April. The goal is to give third-party developers the ability to integrate the software with their own applications - and to spur new uses for the browser.
