AOL Time Warner is quietly testing software that could end exclusive support for Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser in future versions of its online services, signaling a growing fissure in an already strained relationship.
The software, code-named Komodo, would allow AOL Time Warner's America Online and CompuServe services to support multiple Web browsers, including AOL Time Warner's Netscape products, according to a company memo first obtained by Betanews, a Web site that tracks new
"Komodo will reduce AOL's dependence on any single provider of browser technology," the memo reads.
The development will likely further chill the relationship between the two technology giants, which have cooperated uneasily for years even as they have competed in key businesses. Now, as Microsoft pushes more aggressively into Net-related services, the two companies may find it difficult to avoid a showdown.
The Komodo memo said the technology will be built into AOL and CompuServe and then "marketed globally under multiple brand names." It adds that "the Komodo schedule is tied to the fall 2001 AOL and CompuServe client release."
According to the memo, an unreleased version of CompuServe has already incorporated Komodo, using Netscape's Gecko technology as its default browser. The memo adds that Komodo could be ready for widespread release as early as August but does not indicate that AOL plans to end support for IE at that time.
AOL, the largest online service with 29 million members, is expected to release the next version of its service, AOL 7.0, by the end of the year.
AOL spokesman Jim Whitney said the new Komodo-enhanced CompuServe is still in a preliminary stage, and the company is not prepared to release a version imminently. He added that the relationship with Microsoft remains valuable for the company given AOL's distribution on Windows.
"We're testing products and combinations all the time," Whitney said. "We continue to believe that carriage on Windows is important."
Microsoft declined to comment on Komodo.
AOL's tests to support multiple browsers come just months after the expiration of a five-year contract guaranteeing AOL prominent placement within Microsoft's ubiquitous Windows operating system in exchange for exclusive support for IE on its online service.
