Date: 01-04-2008
In what might come as a disappointment to dedicated users of the world's first commercial web browser, Netscape Navigator, Time Warner's AOL has declared it will cease supporting the browser on February 1, 2008. The decision was announced by Netscape director Tom Drapeau in a blog entry where he wrote that, "While internal groups within AOL have invested a great deal of time and energy in attempting to revive Netscape Navigator, these efforts have not been successful in gaining market share from Microsoft's Internet Explorer." Netscape was launched in 1994 but lost market share after Microsoft launched Internet Explorer, distributing it as part of the package comprising the Windows operating system. Netscape was taken over by AOL in 1999. The browser will still be available to Internet users, but AOL will not be releasing any updates after February 1. AOL recommends that users of Netscape download the open-source Mozilla Firefox browser, instead. According to reports by the New York Times, Firefox holds nearly 10% of the web browser market share.
