Netscape Communications Corp

AOL, Netscape Consider Alliance: The talks between the companies are aimed at fending off a challenge from Microsoft Corp., sources said. Vienna, Va.-based America Online may license Netscape Communications Corp.'s browser, the most popular software used to navigate the Internet, as an early move in the partnership. Discussions are in the preliminary stage and it could be weeks before an announcement is made, the sources said.

AOL plans today to relaunch its Netscape Internet portal as an experiment in community journalism, trying to recapture the magic of the once-famous online brand. Netscape will rely on its users to submit, rank and comment on news stories, videos and blog postings from across the Web. Stories will be organized into 30 categories, such as movies, travel and money.

Netscape Communications Corp. said it will sell three new products through retailers as part of its strategy to get 100 million copies of its Internet software into consumers' hands. The Mountain View-based software maker will begin selling the three new editions of its Communicator browsing software for prices starting at $29, including rebates. Browsers allow computer users to search for information on the World Wide Web. Netscape, seeking a way to retain its lead over Microsoft Corp.

America Online has inked a deal to distribute its Netscape Web browser with Hewlett-Packard Co. personal computers sold in the United States and Canada starting early next year. It is the first PC distribution deal for an alternative browser since Microsoft Corp. won the "browser wars" of the late 1990s. Under the agreement, Netscape will be preinstalled on all new HP and Compaq brand consumer PCs.

Yahoo Inc. introduced a business-to-business directory that lists equipment and supplies that companies can buy on the Web. . . . Compaq Computer Corp. will put Microsoft Corp.'s Internet service on its Presario personal computers under a three-year alliance. . . . Netscape Communications Corp. said it will release a test version of its long-overdue Web browser, Netscape 6.0, within the next 25 days.

International Business Machines Corp., Lotus Development Corp., Netscape Communications Corp., Novell Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc. plan to form a global Internet consortium. Novell said the goal of the consortium is to provide customers with Internet and intranet training and certification. The members of the consortium plan to name another company to administer the training and certification program, which will be rolled out in 1997, Novell said.

Netscape Communications Corp. will become a component of the Nasdaq-100 Index beginning Thursday, the Nasdaq Stock Market said. The Internet service provider will replace Gateway 2000 Inc. in the index, which is a benchmark for large-growth stocks. Shares of Mountain View-based Netscape rose 50 cents to close at $30.50. Gateway shares added $1.125 to close at $71.125.

Microsoft Corp.'s alleged anti-competitive business practices have yet to harm consumers, though the software giant could raise prices if its Windows monopoly remains intact, an economist testified as the government concluded its landmark antitrust case.

Netscape Communications Corp. has introduced a service on its Web site at http://home.netscape.com designed to deliver news and services to small companies. The service is part of Netscape's recently announced "Project 60" aimed at expanding its Netcenter Web site into a broad service for consumer and business users. Included are backup services to protect files, information on how small businesses can interact with clients over the Net and a suite of Web-hosting services.

Microsoft Corp. will pay AOL Time Warner Inc. $750 million to settle an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the software giant unfairly crushed AOL's Netscape Web browser. In the settlement deal announced Thursday, the rivals also agreed to collaborate on digital media initiatives to thwart piracy, an important move as the Internet gains currency as an entertainment medium piping music and movies into homes.

Long after Microsoft's Internet Explorer won the browser wars, AOL's Netscape Communications division is launching another volley in its battle to stay relevant. Netscape 7, now available for downloading as a preview release, is more defensive than offensive: It fixes the bugs and improves on the speed of its predecessor while adding features others already have. That's not to say that Netscape has nothing new to offer.

Former Netscape Communications Corp. Chief Executive James Barksdale, a key witness in next month's Microsoft antitrust trial, will testify that if the software giant's proposed settlement with the Justice Department had been in place six years ago, Netscape might never have been formed. As the lead-off witness in the Justice Department's first trial against the software giant in 1998, Barksdale won points with his folksy language.

Netscape, the maker of the Web-browsing software at the heart of the U.S. government's antitrust case against Microsoft Corp., is set on Wednesday to unveil a much-delayed upgrade that marks the sharply curtailed ambitions of the once pioneering program. Netscape 6, the latest version of the program millions rely on as their primary window to the Internet, will be introduced at a trade show in Los Angeles by officials of America Online Inc., which acquired Netscape last year.

Yahoo Inc. introduced a business-to-business directory that lists equipment and supplies that companies can buy on the Web. . . . Compaq Computer Corp. will put Microsoft Corp.'s Internet service on its Presario personal computers under a three-year alliance. . . . Netscape Communications Corp. said it will release a test version of its long-overdue Web browser, Netscape 6.0, within the next 25 days.

Even before Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issued his legal broadside against Microsoft Corp. on Friday, the company was facing some of its gravest threats in years. Jackson's ruling is likely to make all these threats worse. Morale at the company is already thought to be slipping as the world changes around it, with many top executives having quit in recent months.

* FPA Medical Management Inc. said PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. agreed to boost the percentage of member premiums it pays the company to care for its HMO patients in Nevada. The news boosted hopes that San Diego-based FPA will return to profitability, sending its shares up $1.78 to close at $4.59 on Nasdaq. * Netscape Communications Corp. signed agreements with Internet directories Lycos Inc., Infoseek Corp., Digital Equipment Corp.'

U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's finding Friday that Microsoft Corp. uses monopoly power to harm potential competitors could accelerate a dilution of the company's once-unquestioned dominance over the software industry. Antitrust experts called the findings a resounding victory for the Department of Justice. The action foreshadows a final ruling in the landmark antitrust case against the high-tech titan, strongly suggesting Jackson will rule that Microsoft violated antitrust laws.