> Netscape was technically superior on the core ability of
> rendering web pages
No. Unless you are comparing IE3 with Netscape 3. NN4 and onward got worse, IE4+ got better. We now call it crappy browser but by the time IE6 was out it was a clear leader (well some my argue for IE5 on Mac).
I still remember first widespread CSS bits that started to appear in the wild with IE4— hover on links, fixed background.
It was possible to duplicate hover behaviour on NN4 but it was nightmarish.
Yeah I was actually comparing IE3 with Netscape 3, which was the point at which Microsoft decided to integrate it with windows explorer and was the point at which Netscape's fate was sealed.
The big difference being, Microsoft could make a better browser than Netscape, if they put their best team on it. I don't think Apple can compete with Google at search, unless they want to spend several billion a year (as Microsoft does).
