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Toonami Infolink :: View topic - Is the End Near for Netscape?
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The death knell is sounding for the Netscape browser, industry observers said, following America Online's decision Tuesday to lay off about 50 Netscape software developers and end development work on the Mozilla browser technology.
"I would not say the patient is dead, but certainly it is more zombie-like. I don't see a new version of the Netscape browser coming out anytime soon," said Jonathan Gaw, research manager at market researcher IDC in Mountain View, California.
Geoff Johnston, vice president for StatMarket, a division of San Diego-based Web tracking company WebSideStory, agreed. "It sounds like AOL is really throwing in the towel. I think we have seen our last version of Netscape," he said.
AOL spokesperson Andrew Weinstein denied that the final hour has come for the Netscape browser. "We will continue to support the Netscape browser and Netscape remains a part of our multibrand strategy," he said.
Moving Slowly
However, many signs point to a slow death for the browser. "I don't think anybody is working on the Netscape browser anymore after the Tuesday layoffs," said one industry insider who asked not to be named. His comments are echoed in online bulletin boards about Netscape and Mozilla, the technology underlying the Netscape browser.
The last major release of the Netscape browser and associated software was in August last year with version 7.0. However, most Netscape users never upgraded past version 4.7, according to WebSideStory's Johnston.
Netscape was the most popular browser in the early years of the Web. However, its market share started crumbling when Microsoft introduced Internet Explorer in the mid-nineties. The acquisition of Netscape by Microsoft rival AOL in late 1998 and a lengthy antitrust trial could not change the browser's fortune.
AOL's concession to Microsoft in the browser space was really already clear when it negotiated a seven-year, royalty-free license to use Internet Explorer with its AOL client software as part of a lawsuit settlement with Microsoft in May, Johnston said. "That is when AOL conceded the war, surrendered to Microsoft and turned things over," he said.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer held over 94 percent of the browser market in June 2003, leaving just over 5 percent to be divided between Netscape, Apple Computer's Safari, and other browsers including Opera, from Opera Software, and Mozilla, according to WebSideStory.
Money Matters
In the end, it all comes down to dollars and sense, said Ken Smiley, research director at Forrester Research of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who has regarded the Netscape browser dead for the last few years.
"AOL is divesting itself of something that was a bad decision in the first place. They found that the time, effort, and money required to develop their own browser was just insurmountable in a world where the vast majority of Internet users use Internet Explorer," Smiley said.
AOL's actions may spell the end of the Netscape browser, but could be the beginning of the Mozilla browser. Also on Tuesday the people behind the Mozilla open source project announced the creation of the Mozilla Foundation, which will promote the Mozilla browser and e-mail software. Several of AOL's software developers will work for the foundation, which will get a $2 million donation over two years from AOL.
Though the Netscape browser may be on its death bed, the Netscape brand has plenty of life in it, IDC's Gaw said. "There is still a lot of value in the organization and the brand," he said. Other analysts agreed.
Nothing lost. _________________ My old sig was too long.
Thu Jul 17, 2003 5:49 pm
counterparadox
Joined: Nov 07, 2002
Post subject:
I use Netscape. 6.0. I don't care about future versions, and it's not as if I couldn't switch over to IE if I truely desired. _________________ anime is teh s uck
Play City of Heroes/Villians? Look me up, Pinnacle server, @C Paradox
Thu Jul 17, 2003 6:48 pm
Beatdiggga
Joined: Nov 07, 2002
Post subject:
Been using IE explorer. Nothing wrong with it, as long as it loads screens, I'm happy. _________________ Sometimes I miss my sanity- Wedge Antilles
Well, that's you. I use what works for me. Besides, there's always underground browser providers. _________________ Sometimes I miss my sanity- Wedge Antilles
Fri Jul 18, 2003 12:35 pm
Zechs
Joined: Nov 07, 2002
Post subject:
I got the Newest netscape and it looked to me like a metalic blue version or AOL's browser...and it screwed up and infected my Instant Measssenger and turned into a pos netscape thing that can't send images or direct connect and looks horrible. I deleted it and then took a shower to clean off the stench of AOL sittyness. _________________ Bang.
Sat Jul 19, 2003 8:55 pm
Alshoff
Joined: Jan 26, 2003
Post subject:
Well, you could try Mozilla 1.4 or Mozilla Firebird. Netscape is Mozilla, except that AOL throws a bunch of junk in it (I was surprised when it wanted me to register/sign up just to use it).
The difference between Mozilla 1.4 and Mozilla Firebird is that Firebird is just a browser, while Mozilla 1.4 is a suite that includes email and some irc chat program. Other than a smaller download size, Firebird is also the new direction Mozilla is headed. The suite is being dropped in favor of making standalone applications (browser, email). If you want to try Firebird, you might want to download the nightly build instead of 0.6, because it may be better than 0.6 (or it could be a bug ridden disaster, since it is a nightly build).
Sat Jul 19, 2003 9:26 pm
Nobuyuki
Joined: Nov 07, 2002
Post subject:
Alshoff wrote:
Other than a smaller download size, Firebird is also the new direction Mozilla is headed. The suite is being dropped in favor of making standalone applications (browser, email).
Everything old is new again, eh? _________________ "When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."- C.S. Lewis
"Superman can't be emo. He can't cut himself."-CP
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