RIP Netscape Navigator 1994-2008

halo
halo Posts: 5,616
edited December 2007 in The Clubhouse
128px-Netscape_classic_logo.jpg

AOL to end support for Netscape browser

http://www.macworld.com/article/131336/2007/12/aol.html
by Stephen Lawson, IDG News Service
Dec 28, 2007 7:23 pm

An historic name in software will effectively pass into history in February as AOL discontinues development and active support for the Netscape browser, according to an official blog.

AOL will keep delivering security patches for the current version of Netscape until Feb. 1, 2008, after which it will no longer provide active support for any version of the software, according to a Friday entry on The Netscape Blog by Tom Drapeau, lead developer for Netscape.com. The Netscape.com Web site will remain as a general-purpose portal.

Netscape was the original mass-market Web browser and helped to popularize the Internet in the mid-1990s, but it has long taken a back seat to Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Firefox itself traces its roots back to Netscape software that was made into open source. The Mozilla Foundation was founded in 2003, with support from AOL, and has released successive versions of Firefox while AOL continued to develop Netscape on top of the same platform, Drapeau wrote.

Groups within AOL have tried and failed to revive Netscape Navigator and gain market share against Internet Explorer, according to the blog entry.

“AOL’s focus on transitioning to an ad-supported Web business leaves little room for the size of investment needed to get the Netscape browser to a point many of its fans expect it to be,” Drapeau wrote. “Given AOL’s current business focus … we feel it’s the right time to end development of Netscape branded browsers, hand the reins fully to Mozilla and encourage Netscape users to adopt Firefox,” Drapeau wrote.

The Mosaic Netscape browser was posted for downloading in 1994 by Mosaic Communications, which later changed its name to Netscape Communications. That company kicked off the dot-com boom with its hugely successful initial public offering in August 1995 and was acquired by AOL in 1999. But Internet Explorer, introduced in 1995, eventually dominated the browser market. Microsoft’s bundling of its browser with Windows operating systems was a key issue in antitrust lawsuits filed against it in 1997.

As of this month, Netscape had only 0.6 percent of the browser market, which was still dominated by Internet Explorer with more than 77 percent, according to Web application and analytics firm Net Applications. Firefox was gaining, however, with market share just over 16 percent.

Users will still be able to download old versions of Netscape from an archive, though they will not be supported by AOL, Drapeau wrote.
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Comments

  • rskarvan
    rskarvan Posts: 2,374
    edited December 2007
    Farewell!
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited December 2007
    good idea, c-ya.

    RT1
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  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,842
    edited December 2007
    Uhhh. Mozilla has been around for decades and was the original engine behind Netscape.

    Who did the research for this article? It's pretty much wrong.


    BTW, you want Netscape, download Seamonkey from http://www.mozilla.org

    It's the latest version of the Mozilla browser and has all the tools and features that Netscape had and then some. I'm posting this using Seamonkey right now. It's pretty much the best browser you can find right now, IMO of course.
    Expert Moron Extraordinaire

    You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you!
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited December 2007
    Jstas wrote: »
    I'm posting this using Seamonkey right now. It's pretty much the best browser you can find right now, IMO of course.
    Couldn't they think of a better name? It sounds like a children's game.
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • mrbigbluelight
    mrbigbluelight Posts: 9,836
    edited December 2007
    Well, they were going to call it Seamen, but for some reason .......... although it did seem to be popular on the West Coast.
    Sal Palooza
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  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,842
    edited December 2007
    Face wrote: »
    Couldn't they think of a better name? It sounds like a children's game.


    It could be call "Flying Baby Buggy Bumpers". If it's good and it works like it's supposed to, I'll still use.



    And didn't you ever have sea monkeys when you were a kid?
    Expert Moron Extraordinaire

    You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you!
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  • bobman1235
    bobman1235 Posts: 10,822
    edited December 2007
    mrbigbluelight wrote: »
    Well, they were going to call it Seamen, but for some reason .......... although it did seem to be popular on the West Coast.

    Mr. Burns: What do you think Smithers?
    Smithers: I think women and seamen don't mix.
    Mr. Burns: We know what you think.
    If you will it, dude, it is no dream.
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  • avguytx
    avguytx Posts: 1,628
    edited December 2007
    AOL? They are still around? :D
    Richard? Who's your favorite Little Rascal? Alfalfa? Or is it........................Spanky?.................................Sinner.
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited December 2007
    RIP Netscape
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
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  • nadams
    nadams Posts: 5,877
    edited December 2007
    Good riddance.
    Ludicrous gibs!
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  • shadowofnight
    shadowofnight Posts: 2,735
    edited December 2007
    I remember it from day 1...sucked from the getgo....
    The first rule of Fight Club is you don't talk about Fight Club
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  • nadams
    nadams Posts: 5,877
    edited December 2007
    shadowofnight wrote: »
    I remember it from day 1...sucked from the getgo....

    Everything sucked back then... the difference is, Nutscrape got worse instead of following everyone else and getting better.
    Ludicrous gibs!
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  • bigaudiofanatic
    bigaudiofanatic Posts: 4,415
    edited December 2007
    AOL sucks use to have it they will go next.HAHA
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited December 2007
    shadowofnight wrote: »
    I remember it from day 1...sucked from the getgo....

    it never sucked anymore than MSIE. seriously. Internet Explorer is slooowwww! esp to load up.

    I will use any browser just so I don't have to use MSIE.
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
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