CNET News.com: What AOL stands to lose in browser war

“…today’s browsers offer users considerable choice in how they
browse the Web. Although both companies hope to get users hooked on
their start pages, users easily can change their browser settings
to begin with whatever portal, content, or commerce site they
prefer. …without a significant competitor to Internet Explorer on
the market, that might no longer be the case.”

” ‘If there’s only one browser, do you think in 2004 you can
still change that home page?’ asked Ramanathan Guha, chief
technology officer of Epinions.com and former principal engineer at
Netscape. …Guha compared future battles over the IE start page to
the ‘screen wars’ that erupted between Microsoft and computer
makers at the dawn of the PC revolution of the 1980s. …Microsoft
acted to prevent computer manufacturers from altering the Windows
start screen…”

“Microsoft did not rule out making the IE start page a permanent
fixture.”

“The other component to a potential browser monopoly that is
keeping Microsoft’s competitors up at night is the prospect of
Microsoft controlling Internet technology standards. If Microsoft
locks up the browser market, the company becomes the only
significant player designing HTML architecture. … Some say Web
standards today are the equivalent of Windows application
programming interfaces (APIs) a decade ago.”

“But just as Microsoft argues that the Web has pulled the rug
out from under its desktop software juggernaut, the company appears
to be gaining a lock on the Web, too. Indeed, some portals already
offer tools with Windows-only functionality.

Another way Microsoft could wield power through a browser
monopoly is by locking Web publishers and merchants into its own
proprietary technologies for tools vital to e-commerce, Epinions’
Guha warned.”

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