Netscape prepares for final stand

NEWS Netscape is being solidly trounced in the browser war against Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser. Up until six months ago, Netscape had been able to hold on to 12 per cent of the market for web browsers, despite Microsoft's dominance of other desktop software. However, since the launch of Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) Netscape's market share slumped to just seven per cent. In the same period Microsoft IE6 grew from two per cent market share just after launch to 30.5 per cent. The only browser with a bigger market share is Microsoft's previous version, IE5. The figures come from the latest survey by web metrics firm WebSideStory, which tracks the use of browsers from internet users across the world. The figures demonstrate Microsoft's success in winning the browser war begun when it started bundling the software in with its operating system, prompting the US government to take the firm to court. The last hope for the Netscape browser now is the news that AOL is considering using the technology as its default browser in the next release of its internet access software. AOL has 34 million registered users worldwide.