In what must be one of the most stunning reversals of fortune in American corporate history, the once dominant web browser Netscape is doomed to die after Microsoft and Netscape’s parent company, AOL signed a deal for AOL to use MS Internet Explorer as the default browser and search engine for all new AOL customers. Netscape, which once commanded over 90% of the web browser market in the mid 1990’s was relegated to second tier through AOL’s neglect after it was purchased for over $4.2Billion in stock in 1998. The most recent dealings between Microsoft and AOL have been less than pleasant with the two firms seen more as blood rivals than cooperative competitors. In making peace through this deal, MS and AOL put an end to one of the nastiest anti-competition battles since the inception of the commercial Internet. Microsoft has spent much of the last seven years destroying Netscape using a host of the seemingly unlimited tools at its disposal, the most prominent being the inclusion of MS browser Internet Explorer as a standard component in Windows operating systems. MS’s obvious intention of driving Netscape and others out of the emerging Internet market was the catalyst for the infamous US government Anti-Trust case that was quietly settled late last year.

The deal between the two corporate giants is part of the overall settlement. For Microsoft, the agreement allows them to take an embarrassing financial settlement ordered by the courts and present it as an alliance. For AOL, the agreement gives important written guarantees that MS will share Windows source-code in order to make AOL products such as its AIM instant messenger or its standard AOL service work seamlessly on all PC systems. Microsoft, as many long-term computer users might remember, has developed a nasty reputation for making Windows just slightly buggy when working with non-MS software. As part of the anti-trust settlement, Microsoft was ordered to share the source-code of all new Windows operating systems with software manufactures in order to allow for truly bug-free software development. The terms of the deal have not been fully released but the exchange amounts to a $750Million payment from MS to AOL as well as the insurance of technological compliance from MS. The cash settlement also gives AOL a bit of breathing room as the company struggles under a crushing $26Billion debt. Perhaps the most important facet of the agreement is the adoption of Microsoft’s new digital rights management scheme to protect movies, music and literature distributed over the Internet. MS is now rumored to be in talks with movie studio and recording industry executives in order to sell them on their version of digital rights protection.

In other words, this deal likely marks a turning point for many applications and uses of the Web and may even be a catalyst for changing the way users relate to the Internet in the future. Given the size and history of the two players involved, major changes to the Internet are not only likely due to this agreement, they are likely inevitable.

Netscape made an important historical footprint both on the web and in society as a whole. Netscape Navigator evolved from the original Mosaic browser which celebrated its tenth anniversary in early May and was the first real user-friendly browser on the market. By the mid-1990’s, Netscape was not only the browser of choice for most Internet users, its 1998 purchase by AOL is seen as the beginning of the Tech/Internet Stock bubble. By creating a popular and easy to use utility, Netscape opened up the world wide web for public and commercial use, and helped set many HTML standards that are still the basis of website development. Regardless of Internet users’ impressions of Netscape and its recent history, the demise of the former leader marks another milestone in Internet history, the almost total dominance of MS Internet Explorer.

For people interested in alternative Web Browsers, there is still the upstart Mozilla and the ever-improving Opera browsers to choose from.

Finally there is a new player in the search engine market that has some real potential! "The Wondir Foundation is a new, nonprofit, 501(c)(3), organization with a simple mission: eliminate the barriers between questions and answers." Currently in beta-testing mode, this search resource focuses on providing combined search results from various search engines and the volunteer advice of experts from around the world. This is how it works: enter and search a question in natural language form such as "What is the best hotel in Cancun?" Your results page will be broken-down into 5 separate sections:

1. "Web Resources"
This section functions similar to a meta-crawler search engine by querying the majority of the top search engines including Google, AltaVista, AlltheWeb and MSN (see more here). My impression of the results for this particular Cancun search term was reasonably positive, however, other search terms have yielded strangely dissimilar results. This section is definitely still in beta (testing mode).

2. "People to Ask"
This is easily the best feature of this new search resource and possibly one of the most innovative ideas we have seen in a very long time. The Wondir resource allows individuals and organizations to register as an 'expert' in the Wondir community within a chosen field. When you conduct a search, a random (as far as we know) sampling of the relevant 'experts' are shown for this question with an option to ask the expert directly by email or view other experts in the directory. Each expert is given their own private page to login to at Wondir and answer their inquiries. Currently the Wondir directory appears to be very lightly traveled due to the very few experts currently signed up, however, we see this function becoming an excellent FREE lead generator for many business owners.

3. Related Questions With Answers
This is where various answers provided by experts will be located. As the Wondir directory remains small this section will provide an excellent incentive to experts; by answering more questions each expert will have better odds of gaining more visibility.

4. News Groups & Mailing Lists
This section does not appear functional yet but it will likely provide a very convenient access point to online discussions concerning the topic searched.

5. News Articles
This is another section which does not appear to be enabled yet. With the hefty requirements of article indexing we anticipate that this option may take a while to be enabled. Either that or Wondir is still endeavoring to adapt to the article databases for each of its content partners.

Tipping is Appreciated but Not Expected.
The Wondir expert signup page requests billing information for each of its experts. In a bit of a twist, this billing information is actually used to send money to the expert! Essentially this allows users who have received particularly useful advice to 'tip' the expert that provided it. This is not an expected tip and they will quite likely be few and far between but we like the concept.

Conclusion
The Wondir resource has many possibilities and we encourage everyone to join in a become experts in their field. Not only could this search resource provide a good dose of freshness to the staling search engine industry but it could be a great source of direct leads!

Check out the Wondir search resource and give it a test drive, it has many features and the design staff appears to welcome feedback. Maybe you could even have a hand in shaping a new power in the search engine realm.

Since 1987, Columbia Fire and Safety has built a strong reputation upon quality, service, and safety innovation. Carrying everything from basic job safety equipment to heavy-duty first aid and earthquake survival gear, Columbia offers more products in one place than most other Safety and Emergency related businesses. Columbia specializes in custom manufacturing and assembling of soft pack or metal cabinet first aid kits. Your company name and logo can be added to any of their kits, which are ideal for corporate incentive or award programs. Columbia staff invites inquiries for any special needs you might have.

Visit their web site, E-mail or call Columbia Fire and Safety at 1-800-661-5090 to order today. They can personally help you decide on what is right for any situation. Their staff can assist you to find what is appropriate for yourself, your workplace, and your friends and family. If you are thinking about the unthinkable, there really is no other place to turn for fast service, affordable prices and quality goods at a low cost.

At StepForth, our full-time job is to provide the best search engine optimization advice and services to our clientele. There are, however, many other facets to creating a successful web presence which we often see overlooked by clients. As a result, the staff at StepForth has been searching for a course or book on Internet Marketing that we could recommend to our clientele to fill-in these gaps and improve their overall web presence. Fortunately Ross Dunn, our CEO, met Corey Rudl and the search was finally over.

Simply put, Corey Rudl is a celebrated Canadian Internet success story. He started out as a one-man operation selling a book on the Internet from his parent's house in Vancouver, Canada. Now Corey Rudl gets over 1.8 million visitors to his websites monthly and does 6.6 million dollars in online sales each year. Getting to this successful position was a bumpy ride for Corey and he decided that most of the mistakes he made were entirely unnecessary. As a result, Corey began the Internet Marketing Center where he shares the business insights and tools that got him where he is today. Nowadays he keeps busy in California building his dream home and traveling to speaking engagements all across North America.

The IMC Course
The Internet Marketing Center web site is a great source of useful marketing information but the one product that really impressed us was the course called: "Insider Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the Internet". It sounds a bit hyped and at first we were very skeptical, however, our mind changed very quickly once we began reading it. We can actually say, without a doubt, that this course will teach you the necessary lessons to improve sales on your web site. We were astounded by the amount of quality information within this resource and considering that we are veteran online marketers this is no small feat!

At 1000+ pages the IMC course is a bit of a hefty read but we are certain that you will come away from it having learned a great deal. From our perspective, the most valuable lesson to be learned within this course is how to write effective copy for your web site. Many of the writing tips included in this course will change the way you look at your web site and, if implemented, will certainly increase profits. They did for us! After all, one of Corey's recommendations was writing articles which has turned out to be the best move that StepForth ever made!

For more info visit the Internet Marketing Center or read this interview with Corey Rudl.