Netscape puts Javagator "on hold"

As expected, Netscape has put plans for its 100% Pure Java version ofNavigator, dubbed "Javagator", "on hold". The company is hoping that anindustry heavyweight with lots of cash--such as Sun or IBM--will financethe project or simply take it off their hands.

"We are trying to gauge the interest in helping us work on the technologyfrom companies that are making NCs," said Jim Hamerly, a VP of the clientproduct division at Netscape. "We are looking to some of our partners tohelp on the marketing and development side and are trying to see how NCsare moving forward in 1998."

Javagator was aimed squarely at NCs, which will typically run a thin clientoperating system such as a JavaOS. Such NCs, however, are more than rare;despite a heavy push over the past few years by companies such as Oracle,few NCs are actually shipping. Meanwhile, PC prices have plummeted, makingthe market for these boxes smaller than ever.

Netscape also halted development of its next-generation HTML/Java renderingengine, which was dubbed "Gemini." Originally, Gemini was intended as thenew HTML rendering engine for Communicator 5.0 and Javagator. Also, thecompany hoped that third parties would license the code and embed it intheir own applications, as they can with Microsoft Internet Explorer.Netscape has "learned a lot" from Gemini and will use some of its ideas inCommunicator, but not written in Java.

Netscape's problems may be indicative of two bigger issues: its ownfinancial difficulties and the very real possibility that current Javatechnology is not able to create mainstream, fully-functional applications.Not that Netscape sees it that way: when asked whether the cancelled Javaplans were the results of financial problems, a company representative said"No comment."

"This is not a setback for Java. It's simply an acknowledgment that we haveto be more open and dependent on partners to be successful," Hamerly said