Netscape Navigator is one of the world's most well known and historic brands of computing
AOL, one of the World's pioneering Internet Service Providers, is planning to end support for one of the World's pioneering popular web browsers, Netscape Navigator. Under this, all Netscape products will cease to be supported and no updates will any longer be provided on 1 FEBRUARY 2008, leaving thousands of users without vital security updates or formal migration instructions.
The Netscape brand will effectively die, existing only as the name of the "AOL Netscape" portal.
We feel we won't let Netscape go out quietly. Just by signing the petition and showing your support for the World's most influencial, well-known and adopted browsers, we aim to discourage AOL from committing yet another horrific crime to the computing world.
Even if you are not a Netscape user... for the sake of open-source development, supporting Mozilla and getting usage shares from the non-standard complient Internet Explorer, help save Netscape by signing the petition. The aim is for AOL to continue Netscape support and this historic brand, or if unsuccessful, to raise awareness of Netscape and its intergration with Internet history, hoping that some day the ships wheel will re-appear again, even if not under AOL. Click HERE to discover why Netscape should be saved
AOL will be aknowledged of these campaigns, and Netscape are already aware of so. If you have signed the second (duplicated) petition, please sign the other one as an attempt to merge the two into one. The petition is unrelated to this site, and this site does not claim responsibility for any difficulties visiting external sites, although all links have been tested.
CONTINUE READING BELOW for A Story of Success, Sale and Scandal and why Netscape has been mistreated over the years.
Netscape Homepage | The Scandal Reported | Netscape Community Reactions | History of Netscape
The Netscape Unofficial FAQ | Sillydog.org Netscape Section | Reasons to hate AOHell
Why Netscape is a Great Browser
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A story of Success, Sale and Scandal
The Netscape Communications Corporation was incorporated in 1994, led by Marc Andreessen, the chief architecht of the World's first popular web browser, Mosaic. The company has been most well known for its internet browsing and e-mail software, including Netscape Navigator, Communicator, Messenger, Composer, Calender and Collabra, and had over 80% of the web browser shares throughout much of the 1990's.
Netscape was the company which brought the Internet to the people
In 1998, Netscape made all of its browsing software open-source, creating the hugely successful and later equally as well known Mozilla Foundation, in an attempt to increase its usage share which was being threatened by Microsoft Corporation installing Internet Explorer as a compulsory feature on all Windows computers. At that time it also scrapped its "next-generation" release of Communicator, Netscape 5, due to the work required with the ageing code. Charging for Netscape products was dropped
In 1999, Netscape Communications Corporation was sold to computing giant AOL, now part of TimeWarner for $4.2 billion, after turbulent financial difficulty. Netscape, now by AOL, launched a case against Microsoft, known as the Microsoft Antitrust Trial, claiming this compulsory installation of IE on systems seriously damaged web browser competition and its business. The outcome of the trial concluded that AOL could use Microsoft's IE technologies loyalty free for most purporses in its software until 2010. Now that AOL could use IE technologies royalty-free, AOL's business plan for Netscape was generally disregarded.
Due to pressure from the Web Standards Agency, AOL pushed Netscape to release Netscape 6 based on a pre-release version of the Mozilla Application Suite in 2000. This was generally seen as a very premature product and had many technical problems, pushing users away from Netscape software further. Netscape 7 was released in 2002 was a full and stable product, based on Mozilla Suite, and was regarded a successful and well-written release.
The open-source arm of Netscape, Mozilla, was made independent by AOL in 2003, who pledged around $2 million to oversee the process. In this, many of Netscape's programmers went over to Mozilla, and the outcome was that Netscape would now base all of its software on Mozilla's open-source code. Most of Netscape's workforce was laid off throughout 2003, and later the historic "N" logo was removed from the building.
In 2005, AOL decided to outsource the development of Netscape Browser 8 to a Canadian company, Mercurial Communications, with no in-house development whatsoever. The browser was very sophisticated, and as such faced much criticism and became cumbersome to run and program. Mercurial was reported bankrupt in 2007.
Netscape however did see a brief period of revival in 2007, with the re-introduction of the Netscape Navigator and Netscape Messenger brands, along with new releases and in-house development. All was going swimmingly well. Or was it?
On December 28, AOL announced it was to end support for all Netscape software, due to lack of numbers. Netscape infact had seen largely a revival throughout 2007, and recieved many good reviews. AOL now believes that Mozilla should be handed full responsibility of the continuation of the ongoing battle against Internet Explorer, but it is sadly wrong. Netscape has the potential to grow and has done. The whole point in Mozilla was to ensure the continuation of Netscape products, whereby Netscape could itself use this new development to produce its own software, even for commercial uses. Additionally, AOL took control of many former Netscape products, such as Netscape Webmail, now part of AIM, and closed others, such as Netscape DevEdge.
Through late 2007 also, Netscape was robbed of its iconic internet address, Netscape.com, which was taken over by parent AOL. Now it may look pretty, but if you're living in a country that AOL operates in, you will be re-directed away from Netscape.com to a local version of AOL.com. So, people in those countries can NEVER access Netscape services or indeed know what happened to the Netscape social news website, which AOL have now re-named "Propeller". Netscape.com may as well not exist.
Throughout the years, the Netscape brand has stood for power and popularity. Everybody knows who Netscape is, in every corner of the globe. The once gigantic Beast has, once again, been defeated by its dictating, disruptive and disorganised master, to an embarrasing pile of ashes. Mozilla may continue and bring wonder to the world in the battle against Microsoft, but never will it have the achievements Netscape has brought to the world of computing. AOL has failed Netscape.
Defy AOL! Download Netscape Navigator version 9 today!
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