• AOL to Abandon Netscape Browser

    AOL to Abandon Netscape Browser

    Techtree News Staff, Dec 29, 2007 1600 hrs IST

    From the mid 1990s when the Netscape Browser commanded over 80 percent of the market, its market share has reduced drastically in recent times.

    mail share

On Feb 1, 2008, AOL will withdraw support on all versions of the Netscape Browser. The company is now urging users to migrate to Firefox instead.

From the mid 1990s when the Netscape Browser commanded over 80 percent of the Internet browser market, its market share has, in recent times, reduced drastically.

Bidding adieu to the veteran browser, lead developer, Tom Drapeau, wrote on the Netscape blog that AOL's focus on transitioning to an ad-supported Web business leaves little room for the size of investment that is required to get Netscape to a point many of its fans expect it to be.

Meanwhile, afficianados can continue using Netscape after Feb 1st next year, however there won't be any security patches.

People who are hooked on to the Netscape interface are advised to download Netscape 'skins' or themes for their Firefox browsers by Drapeau.

Netscape Communications was bought by AOL for $4.2 billion back in 2000. In 2003, Microsoft paid AOL Time Warner $750m towards settlement of an anti-trust case brought against the software giant for alleged illegal conduct and thwarting of competition in the market for operating systems and Web browsers.

Needless to say, Microsoft had used strong-arm tactics to get PC builders to bundle IE 4.0 instead of Netscape on their desktops. What went in Microsoft's favor of course was that IE was free unlike Netscape, even when the latter was at its peak...

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Discussion Board
(12) Comments
kailas vilas ku
,pandharpur, on Feb 14, 2010 07:18 PM
hi , i am kailas kurnawal .i want free net scape browser
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bhavesh
,hyderabad, on Jul 12, 2008 12:09 PM
LOCATE PLACES
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The Phil
,Bristol, on Dec 31, 2007 09:05 PM
There's always Opera too, its kinda like the mutant child of IE & FF
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Doug Strilecky
,New Richmond, on Dec 31, 2007 06:53 PM
what effect will this have on folks that have netscape.net e-mail addresses? That's what my wife uses
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Anthony Kostine
,Portland, Oregon, on Dec 31, 2007 05:17 AM
I use Netscape 7.2 on my iMac (operating system 10.3.9) as my browser. I pull up my comcast email on it. Will I be able to continue using this Netscape after 1 Feb?
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robert
,carrollton, on Dec 31, 2007 12:35 AM
i want to try netscape
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Alan Hancock
,Kansas City, on Dec 30, 2007 09:47 PM
Downloaded Firefox and found that it only imports favorites(bookmarks), passwords ETC from IE, not Netscape. Wonder if they are going to fix this.
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Clayton
,Kerrville, TX, on Dec 30, 2007 01:43 AM
I use Mozilla Firefox and I love it. Much better than IE. I suggest checking them out!
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Alan Hancock
,Kansas City, on Dec 30, 2007 09:45 PM
Downloaded Firefox and found that it only imported favorites (bookmarks) and passwords from IE not Netscape. Wonder if they are going to fix that.
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Anonymous
,x, on Dec 30, 2007 08:59 PM
That's pathetic, I moved from FF to Netscape for a reason and now I have to move back to the crap thing?
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Pat
,Owasso, on Dec 29, 2007 08:47 PM
What happens to our email addresses, etc.? I am on wmconnect. Is it time to bail?
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pat d.
,bremerton, on Dec 29, 2007 09:24 PM
what happens to macintosh users? my power mac does not like internet explorer. it can freeze up my mac.i never had a problem with netscape!
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