WinInsider

What Happened to Internet Explorer 7?
I've gotten a lot of questions about IE 7 and the possibility that this product simply won't be happening, to be replaced in Windows by the next version of MSN instead. While I haven't heard anything definitive beyond this rumor, a recent report on a Mac-oriented rumors site has me wondering. Think Secret, which has one of the better records predicting what's happening with Mac OS X, recently published a story stating that the next IE version for the Mac is "in question," and the product is being held back so that Microsoft can ship an MSN 8 version for that platform. Given the relatively small size of the Mac Business Unit (MBU) at Microsoft, this could simply mean that the company wants to focus on MSN 8 before it returns to working on IE, but it could also bear out rumors that IE is being discontinued, despite the fact that it now controls over 95 percent of the Web browser market. Is this an effort to thwart antitrust complaints by decoupling IE and moving all browser development to the MSN camp? Could be.

Netscape's Browser on the Way Out?
And speaking of Web browsers that might never be updated, and internal AOL memo reveals that Netscape's parent company is considering halting Netscape's Web browser development. The memo, revealed on Mozillanews.org, states that future Netscape releases will likely be "focused on maintenance releases" only, which would likely mean that the Mozilla.org organization, which makes the Gecko browser rendering engine and other technologies behind Netscape's browser suite, will carry the unofficial Netscape flag forward. Netscape's recent releases, Netscape 6.x and 7.x, have been warmed over Mozilla releases anyway, adding just a bizarre assortment of proprietary garbage that few people would want anyway. On the other hand, AOL is secretly testing a new Gecko-based email client called AOL Communicator, and the company is reportedly working on a new Gecko version, code-named Apollo, that might become yet another middleware threat to Windows.