I knew this would happen: declare I'm not going to write for a bit only to stumble across something noteworthy.

While AOL Time Warner has all but conceded the Browsers Wars' PC-based battles to Microsoft (especially if AOL renews its contract to use IE), the battlefield may shift from the desktop to the game console if the first moves are any indication. But the move, in the long run, is good news for Web buidlers and surfers alike.

• Sony's decided to use a Netscape (thus Gecko-powered) browser for its Playstation 2
• Microsoft's Xbox will (one can safely presume) be using a version of IE

Sure the Netscape we all came to know, love, then — in the form of its bloated 4.x browser — loath is dead (the name will live on as a Pathfinder redux), but AOL Time Warner's decision to use the browser engine to power non-PC platforms (Playstation, Gateway's Touchpad) is good news.

Why? Because, in the long run, it could be the beginning of the end of the conflicting standards nightmare the Browsers Wars' first round produced. And, most importantly, it could prevent the War from spilling over into our Net-enabled game machines, TVs, and microwaves.