HP to ship Netscape with new PCs

In a move that harks back to the browser wars, HP plans to ship Netscape's web browser on new consumer PCs and laptops starting early next year.

The agreement, announced on Monday, is the first browser distribution deal with a major PC maker since the end of the browser wars in the 1990s, according to Netscape, a division of Time Warner's AOL subsidiary. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The company released Netscape 8 in May, a browser with features to protect users against online scams.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer is by far the most-used web browser but smaller players have been pecking at its market share. Mozilla's open source Firefox browser has a loyal following. Opera Software is also making noise, announcing on 20 September that it will strip the ads out of the free version of its browser.

As part of the HP deal, consumers will be able to choose Netscape as their default browser during computer setup, a Netscape representative said on Monday. Icons for the browser, which will be customised with links to HP and Compaq websites, will appear in the Windows Start menu.

The Netscape browser was once ubiquitous but it was marginalised after Microsoft introduced IE in the mid-1990s. The acquisition of Netscape by Microsoft rival AOL and a lengthy antitrust trial did not help change the browser's fortune.

However, several high-profile security vulnerabilities in IE last year, as well as a lack of new features in the browser, provided some opportunity for Microsoft's rivals to make gains. Netscape and Mozilla have touted security as the number one selling point for their browsers. Microsoft has responded with plans for an IE update due next year.

Netscape 8 includes features to protect users against online threats such as phishing and spyware. The browser automatically adjusts security settings while people surf, based on lists of websites that are known to be malicious or trusted. Phishing scams typically combine spam email with fraudulent websites to trick users into giving up sensitive information such as user names, passwords and credit card numbers.

Netscape 8 is based on Firefox but lets users switch between both the Firefox and IE browser engines. Many websites have been built to work with IE, so supporting both the Firefox and IE engines maximises compatibility.

Nick Labosky, a director at HP, said in a statement sent via email: "We specifically chose the Netscape browser because it has the added advantage of hosting numerous security features while also having the ability to run both the Triton (IE) and Gecko (Firefox) rendering engines."

HP will ship Netscape in Canada and the US. The company is evaluating browser plans for other regions, Labosky said. "HP believes in giving the customer choice," he said. "This decision is reflective of the momentum of users in the marketplace who are choosing to have more than one browser on their desktop."

Microsoft's browser still dominates in terms of usage. In September, Microsoft held 86.87 per cent of the US browser market, Firefox garnered 7.55 per cent, and Netscape stood at 2.16 per cent, according to data from analytics firm Net Applications.

Joris Evers writes for CNET News.com