Netscape Navigator Development Discontinued

AOL announced that they are ending the development of Netscape Navigator browser. The support for the existing versions of Netscape Navigator will cease on February 1, 2008.

The first version of Netscape appeared in October 1994 under the code name “Mozilla”. Netscape introduced most of the major features that define a web browser as we know it today. Netscape 1.0 introduced progressive rendering of pages and images. Netscape 1.1 (March 1995) introduced HTML tables. Version 2.0 (October 1995) introduced frames, Java applets, and JavaScript. Netscape was then the most reliable and stable browser.

In 1998, Netscape released their Netscape Communicator web suite source code into open source software under the new name Mozilla. Netscape Communications was one of the first companies to really get people online. In 1999, AOL acquired the Netscape Communications Corporation. In 2003, Mozilla Foundation, an independent foundation to support the continued development of the open source web suite was created and AOL was a major source of support.

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Netscape, which claimed more than 90 percent of the browser market, currently has only 0.6% market share, compared to IE’s 77% and Firefox’s 16%.

I guess I am getting emotional now. I started my software career using Netscape 3. Then came the Netscape Communicator 4 suite of applications. Netscape Communicator is the first browser I ever used and trusted for making online transactions. Earlier during the time of browser wars, I used to get old versions from Netscape archive and test our pages in it. My first personal page was optimized for Netscape. Netscape Composer was the first WYSIWYG HTML editor I used for creating websites. I also preferred Netscape Mail for checking my POP3 email account and even my official email.

Are you a Netscape fan? Get Netscape look and feel for your Firefox browser using the Netscape skin Add-on for Firefox.

Good bye, Netscape. Rest in peace in the minds of the billions of Internet users. We love you. We love you for getting people online during those initial days. We love you for releasing your source code to open source. We love you for the Mozilla Foundation. You can be really proud of your kid, the clever Firefox.

via TC