Netscape Browser's demise scheduled for 1st of Feb 08

After nearly 14 years of life, the Netscape browser will soon be taken off life support.


AOL which acquired Netscape in a stellar $4.2 billion deal in 1998
quietly announced the browser's demise -- scheduled for Feb. 1 -- in a
blog posting today.


"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," wrote
AOL/Netscape development director Tom Drapeau. "Given AOL's current
business focus and the success the Mozilla Foundation has had in
developing critically acclaimed products, 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 said while internal groups within AOL invested time and energy
in attempting to revive Netscape Navigator (as versions of the product
had often been named,) they ultimately had not been successful in
taking share.


Though the Netscape name will no longer adorn a browser, the brand will not die out entirely.


"While we will no longer support the Netscape Web browser as of Feb. 1,
2008, Netscape.com will still continue to serve as a general-use
Internet portal," Drapeau wrote.


Back in 1998, Netscape spun-out the core of the Netscape code base into
what became the open source Mozilla project, in which it participated
heavily. Within a year of the acquisition, there were questions as to
whether the Mozilla.org effort would survive within AOL.


In 2003, however, the Mozilla Foundation officially separated from
Netscape and AOL with its former parent providing a $2 million dollar
parting gift to the foundation.


The Mozilla spin-off and ultimately, perhaps the fate of Netscape
itself, came as a result of Microsoft's $750 million legal settlement
in 2003 with AOL over antitrust issues.


Netscape had been based on Mozilla code since Netscape version 6
appeared in 2000. The last Netscape browser, Netscape Navigator 9, made
its debut earlier this year.

Navtej Kohli

This entry was posted by Navtej Kohli on Sunday, January 6. 2008 at 08:05. and is filed under News in IT. The author does not allow comments to this entry

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