Re:Why Microsoft really patched XP
by MichaelApproved on Tuesday May 06, 2014 @12:47PM
(#7705575)
> that killed NetScape Communicator is that it had been costing $70 per copy.
It didn't kill Netscape to charge per copy, that's how software works. People need to earn money for their work creating software.
What killed Netscape was Microsoft taking advantage of its monopoly by pushing itself into a new market with free software. Microsoft didn't need to earn money directly from the browser, so they could afford to give it away for free and take a loss.
Re:Why Microsoft really patched XP
by WettowelReactor on Tuesday May 06, 2014 @01:05PM
(#7705699)
While the monopoly control provided a simplified avenue for distribution the free price tag alone cannot be held to blame. By that analogy any free, open source product can push its way into a new market and kill the paid for competition which is clearly not the case.
Re:Why Microsoft really patched XP
by twistedpair on Tuesday May 06, 2014 @01:05PM
(#7705695)
I was jesting. ;) I happily bought several copies back then, which was a lot on an allowance for mowing grass, but FREE was very hard to beat. Of course there was a little Anti-Trust case that came out of those dealings.
>The other thing that killed NetScape Communicator is that it had been costing $70 per copy. Remember... people used to pay for browsers.
Yes but mine came free with the ISP's installation floppy diskettes, which was very cool of them. If I remember correctly, wasn't Opera initially a paid browser too?
Opera had paid versions, then ad supported versions.
The other thing that killed NetScape Communicator is that it had been costing $70 per copy. Remember... people used to pay for browsers.