Remember back in the day, in the early to mid-90s when the Internet was this strange and exotic thing that most people were either afraid of and/or had never used? Back then THE web browser of choice was Netscape. Even today, in remote corners of the globe there are Netscape Web browser users, though they are dwindling in numbers with every day that passes.
And just as the Internet and the world in general has evolved since those days, so have computers, operating systems and, yes, even Web browsers. On February 1st of 2008, the Netscape web browser will officially be no more. Netscape’s new owners, AOL Time Warner, have announced that the company will cease development of the Internet’s first real Web browser this coming February.
According to a story on Wired.com, AOL is recommending that current Netscape browser users switch over to Mozilla Firefox. Officially, AOL is claiming that their current business model does not leave enough time or resources to develop the Netscape browser to compete in today’s marketplace — so they’re dumping it.
The Netscape Navigator browser first appeared in 1994 in the “wild west” days of the Internet, and managed to compete well through the late 1990s. Eventually though, competition from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and the development of third-party web browsers such as Mozilla, Opera and others left Netscape with an ever dwindling segment of the market.
In fact, in some ways it is surprising that the Netscape browser managed to hang around as long as it did. 13 years is an awfully long time in the online world, and for any software to remain viable more than a decade is a near-miraculous feat these days. So even though Netscape will be officially discontinued in a few months, you have to give credit where it’s due — it managed to hang in there a long time.
Many online security analysts agree with AOL’s decision to drop Netscape once and for all. Experts point out that the latest version of Netscape lacks sophisticated security features available on Firefox, Internet Explorer or Apple’s Safari web browser. These “holes” in the Netscape browser’s security could leave users vulnerable to a wide variety of attacks, including trojans, viruses and other malware.
For many people, the demise of the Netscape browser officially marks the end of the Web 1.0 Internet days. But for web users who feel nostalgic for the good old days of the early net, there is a Netscape theme extension for Firefox, which should provide at least some of the feeling of surfing the web circa 1994. Rest in peace, Netscape.
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