AOL throws in the towel
ASP News | at | by Mike
There was a time when AOL was the competitor that Microsoft feared most of all. The online service provider had grabbed an early lead as a trusted Internet brand, and its 1998 acquisition of Netscape - whose Web browser was the runaway market leader at the time - put it in a position to control how users experienced the Web.
AOL failed to capitalize on those advantages, and this week news came that it has finally thrown in the towel on any notion of challenging Microsoft's Web dominance. According to online news site BetaNews, the company has disbanded its "Magic Carpet" team, which was aiming to develop a rival to Microsoft's Passport digital identity service. Along with other cutbacks elsewhere in the organization, this news confirms that AOL no longer represents any meaningful threat to Microsoft's strategic plans.