Netscape Navigator for Cyberdog -- Following through on public musings, Apple and Netscape jointly announced last week that Netscape plans to develop a new version of Netscape Navigator that supports Cyberdog and OpenDoc, and (perhaps more significantly) that Apple will distribute as Cyberdog's default Web browser and as part of the Mac OS. Netscape has not announced a date for the release, but I don't expect to see Netscape Navigator for Cyberdog until the second quarter of 1997. Industry opinion seems split over the announcement; some see Netscape trying to secure another beachhead against Microsoft's Internet efforts, and some welcome the idea of an advanced OpenDoc Web browser. Still others are disappointed Apple failed to find an alternative to the damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't choices involved in using either Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer. [GD]

<http://product.info.apple.com/pr/press.releases /1996/q4/960827.pr.rel.netscape.html>