With the release of Firefox 1.0 last week, Browser War II (BWII)began (Google “browser wars” for more commentary). Those who remember what happened to Netscape (Google “demise of Netscape) are wondering how this fight for browser dominance will turn out. My take: Firefox will prevail.

How can Microsoft fight an open source movement? Redmond can’t force it into bankruptcy. Moreover, Microsoft has alienated some of the top tech pundits, like Robert Vamosi at ZD Net and Patrick Douglas Crispen of Netsquirrel.com by its failure to fix Internet Explorer (IE).

The truth is that Microsoft has grown to be a corporate monster that moves at the speed of a tortoise in a tar pit. Individuals, like hackers, and small groups, like Mozilla, are more agile. This, and the fact that IE is inherently flawed, is why Microsoft can’t keep up with the fixes.

It is going to be a very interesting war.