blufive

Lots of people are getting somewhat excited about this week's settlement of the AOL-Microsoft antitrust lawsuit, and proclaiming the Death Of Netscape.

I don't reckon it's that important.

The gist of the settlement:

MS pays AOL $750 Million.: Yes, $750m is a fairly small sum as far as these two companies are concerned, but it's still a lot of money. It's not going to make MS's eyes water, but they will notice. Given AOLTW's present financial state, the choice between a lengthy legal battle with Microsoft or a large cash settlement was probably a no-brainer.
MS and AOL will work to make their Instant Messaging networks inter-operable.: IMO, this one is a victory for everyone. The great IM schism is pretty pointless, and just means that punters have to install multiple clients. Of course, it would be even better if they used an open format, and let third-party software play too...
MS and AOL will work together to develop Digital Rights Managment techniques.: AOL Time-Warner is one of the largest "content providers" in the world. MS is one of the leading developers of DRM software. Duh. I don't see how this one is even news.
AOL gets to use the IE engine for 7 years without paying any royalties.: This is the bit that has everyone going "Netscape is Dead". However, while it says that AOL can use the IE engine, it doesn't appear to commit them to doing so.

So, overall, my response is: So what? This doesn't really change much.

More on the browser war soon...