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Netscape outlines its vision for the future: NONE

Open Network Environment (ONE) <br>takes on Microsoft behind the firewall

By William Blundon, JavaWorld.com, 10/01/96

Page 3 of 3

The Java standard

Netscape contrasts its ONE strategy against Microsoft's, and rightly calls ActiveX a "branding campaign to reposition Microsoft's 8-year-old OLE/OCX initiative." However, the correct contrast to ActiveX is Java and Java Beans, not Netscape ONE. Netscape correctly points out that ActiveX is platform-dependent and Windows-centric and claims that it is proprietary and not secure. While these latter two points are open to discussion, few readers of this magazine will argue that the superior technology is not Java. However, while Java is a necessary condition for the success of Netscape ONE, the reverse is clearly not true. One can use Java within Netscape ONE, one can use it without Netscape's interfaces, and one can use it in equally well in the Microsoft world.

There may be some bad news pending for Netscape ONE. Netscape will not define the evolution of Java. JavaSoft will. Netscape will not provide a de facto Java standard. Microsoft will. Netscape provides support for Java, Microsoft provides support for both Java and ActiveX. Java may be central to Netscape's strategy, and may dominate its value proposition for the corporate world, but Netscape does not own the technology.

At this point in the evolution of the market, including Java in a corporate intranet strategy is almost like including HTTP. It's a given. The ultimate question for Netscape ONE as a vision: What value does it provide to the marketplace beyond the fact that it is Java-based and that it is not Microsoft?

It is a comprehensive vision, and that is important to many corporations. It is, on the surface at least, technically sophisticated. Many of the products that make up the vision are best-of-class. Integrated well into the existing corporate infrastructure of Windows APIs, it has a chance to do very well. As an island of cool technology, it will find the going much harder -- even if the cool technology is an open standard.

Conclusion

Marketing is many things. In the software world, it can lead a company with good technology to greatness. However, the best marketing is always reality-based, and the reality of the corporate world today is that it is Microsoft-centric. To win on the intranet, not just in the headlines, Netscape ONE will have to do a better of job of integrating with existing Microsoft interfaces.

In the end, saying you are an open standard and being one are two different things. For those of you who conclude that once again Microsoft will reign supreme, remember this: There are nearly 40 million Netscape browsers in the world today. And the rules that apply to Netscape also apply to Microsoft.

About the author

William Blundon is president and COO of SourceCraft Inc. (http://www.sourcecraft.com), a leading developer of intranet development tools using Java and other Internet technologies. His focus in the last seven years has been on distributed object environments and the Internet. He is a former director of the Object Management Group.

 

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