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1998 post about Netscape quoting Marca saying the browser would become an OS. (scripting.com)
23 points by zeedotme on July 8, 2009 | hide | past | favorite | 10 comments


See also: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marc_Andreessen

"Netscape will soon reduce Windows to a poorly debugged set of device drivers"

That was the time when Java was the new thing; when the "network computer" (running a Java VM+ Netscape browser) was going to replace the Windows PC any day now. Oh well...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Computer


And now we have "cloud computing" and netbooks!


And broadband ;)


Google Chrome is a browser, not an operating system. Linux is the operating system. No matter how much people want to think the browser is one, it doesn't change the facts. It is as much an operating system as wifi is. The browser hosts remote apps and provides a runtime environment, which to the non computer science trained out there might appear to be an operating system, but its still not. Chrome does not, for example, implement create_process (fork). Linux does. Chrome, uses fork, its an , or maybe another way to think of the browser is as a UI VM, much like the JVM run s bytecode, the browser runs 'WebCode'.


The failure of the DOJ to enforce anti-trust laws during the era of 'private enterprise can do no wrong' held the internet back 10 years.


According to JWZ, Netscape's injuries were partly self-inflicted: http://www.jwz.org/gruntle/nomo.html

To its credit, Google has amassed some impressive brainpower, much better than Netscape ever did in its heyday. It will be interesting to see how their OS works out.


The fact that they stumbled to the mat after being KO'd by MS does not mean they failed because of their failure to withstand the punch.

I think the blow was big enough that Netscape/Mozilla would never have been as important as their 'network pc' model ideals. They would have had to exist in a much smaller market even if they were to 'succeed'.


I'm not actively disagreeing, but could you elaborate on some examples? Your assertion is an interesting one and I'd like to know more.



They got part of it right. Google is making an operating system, but from my understanding, it is no longer solely a browser.




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