News.com's Paul Festa observes that at the same time Netscape Communications is coming heavy criticism that it released its latest browser prematurely, competition in the browser space is starting to heat up. Festa writes . .

“Both Opera Software, a Norwegian browser maker, and NeoPlanet, a contributor to Netscape's Mozilla open-source development group, are making aggressive moves just as many see America Online subsidiary Netscape in a newly vulnerable position.”

“NeoPlanet chief executive Drew Cohen said Wednesday that his company plans to release a Mozilla-based browser in February that will compete with Netscape's newest browser, which was also built on Mozilla code. Cohen drew a sharp competitive line between the two products, calling the recent release of Netscape 6 'premature' and raising concerns that such a release could give Mozilla 'a bad name' . . .”

“Meanwhile, Oslo-based Opera Software on Wednesday began offering a free version of its browser [for Windows], provided that consumers accept an advertising window within the browser's interface. To eliminate the ads, users can pay a $39 registration fee.”

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