Netscape Navigator RIP

dan^uk

dan^uk

dan^uk

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Finally..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7163547.stm

December 28th 2007

End of Support for Netscape web browsers
... Posted by Tom Drapeau

AOL has a long history on the internet, being one of the first companies to really get people online. Throughout its lifetime, it has been involved with a number of high profile acquisitions, perhaps the largest of which was the 1999 acquisition of the Netscape Communications Corporation. Netscape was known to many as the thought leader in web browsing, and had developed a number of complementary pieces of software that allowed for a rich suite of internet tools.

At the time of the acquisition, the Netscape team had begun working on converting their flagship product - the Netscape Communicator web suite - into open source software, under a new name: Mozilla. AOL played a significant role in the launch of the Netscape 6 browser, the first Mozilla-based, Netscape-branded browser that was released in 2000 and continued to solely fund the development and marketing efforts of Netscape-branded browsers. In 2003, an independent foundation was created to support the continued development of the open source web suite. AOL was a major source of support for the Mozilla Foundation and the company continued to develop versions of the Netscape browser based on the work of the foundation.

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. Recently, support for the Netscape browser has been limited to a handful of engineers tasked with creating a skinned version of Firefox with a few extensions.

AOL's focus on transitioning to an ad-supported web business leaves little room for the size of investment needed to get the Netscape browser to a point many of its fans expect it to be. Given AOL's current business focus and the success the Mozilla Foundation has had in developing critically-acclaimed products, we feel it's the right time to end development of Netscape branded browsers, hand the reigns fully to Mozilla and encourage Netscape users to adopt Firefox.

Q: What will this mean?
A: We'll continue to release security patches for the current version of the browser, Netscape Navigator until February 1, 2008. After February 1, there will be no more active product support for Navigator 9, or any previous Netscape Navigator browser. This includes Netscape v1-v4.x, Netscape v6, Netscape v7 Suite, Netscape Browser v8, and Netscape Navigator/Messenger 9.

Q: I use Netscape now. Now that Netscape is stopping support, what do I do?
A: The Netscape Team fully stands behind the fine work being done by the Mozilla Foundation. We recommend that you download Mozilla Firefox and give it a try. We know you'll enjoy it!

Q: Will I still be able to use Netscape?
A: You will still be able to download old versions of Netscape from the Netscape Archive (link coming). However, these products are no longer supported. Our recommendation for the nostalgic out there is to download Mozilla Firefox, and add on the Netscape theme and Netscape extensions which are available here:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/user/56836

This way you'll have a current web browser that is very secure, and has the look and feel you have grown accustomed to with Netscape.

Q: Will anyone be around to answer my questions?
A: The following sites will continue to exist and offer information about Netscape after February 1, 2008: The UFAQ (http://www.ufaq.org/), the Netscape Archive, the Netscape Community Forum (http://community.netscape.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?webtag=ws-nscpbrowser&redirCnt=1).

Please bear in mind that no active product support will be available.

Q: Does this mean that Netscape is dead?
A: While we will no longer support the Netscape web browser as of February 1, 2008, Netscape.com (http://www.netscape.com) will still continue to serve as a general use Internet portal.


__________________________________
Jay Garcia - Netscape Champion
Netscape Support www.ufaq.org
Netscape Marketing, Staff and Forums Consultant
Netscape Champions Homepage
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I liked NetScape. I used it religiously until AOL took it over and then I moved away.

Being a CAB user on my Atari, I find that CAB is a NetScape clone, and was how I liked my browsers... Nice, clean, and above all useable.

AOL just started to make it look cartooney like MicroSoft is doing to Vista, and now Ahead is doing to Nero... I hate it. Its all looking very nice and peachy for pillocks, but I like things to just work, not look like crap. AOL ruined Netscape for me.
 
My girlfriend runs that pants on her laptop, I was using it and realised it's basically a Firefox skin. All of the pop-ups like password remembering etc. are the same as Firefox. I'm sure the previous version had different pop-ups etc. but the latest one does seem very much to be Firefox.

Got her using Firefox and Opera a bit now, instead of Netscape.

I've sent her a link, she'll be so happy... :D :p

InvG
 
Used to use Netscape when I first went online in '95... kept using it for a few years, but I think it was the AOL acquisition that was the turning point.

It's a shame to see it die, but it's not been worth using for a number of years now. It was much better than IE though, in its heyday.
 
Aod said:
:( IE is just so crap...
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In what way?

The internet is designed to work to IE levels and the IE is designed to work to the internets level.

Apart from the fact, that IE is the one and only browser that supports 100% of all known internet coding and languages, and will display 100% of all web pages 100% as it should this is something that no other browser can do... Not even Mozilla.

The only thing that will stop IE from displaying a page, is if the programmer of that page, deliberately stopped IE for displaying it, but other that that, IE is the single most powerful browser out there... I hate to admit it, but it is.

As for saying its unsecure against the various infections, then yes, to a point, this was true, but it is no longer so... Not since they ripped off Firefox anyway.
 
I also used netscape from the first version until AOL bought them ( sad day )

IE is a pile of crap
Not even going into the massive security holes in it

The reason why IE can display nearly all web pages is that IE doesnt follow the http://www.w3.org/ rules , and the pages that firefox/opera cant handle are generally coded by idiots using Microsoft standards not the standards that the rest of the planet uses for html etc.
 
FatRakoon said:
The internet is designed to work to IE levels and the IE is designed to work to the internets level.

Apart from the fact, that IE is the one and only browser that supports 100% of all known internet coding and languages, and will display 100% of all web pages 100% as it should this is something that no other browser can do... Not even Mozilla.
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:eek: :eek: :eek:

You forgot the smiley face at the end of your post to show that you're being sarcastic. Please tell me that you were being sarcastic.

Here is some proof that Microsoft's own websites are not in any way compliant with the W3C standards:

http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=h...etect+automatically)&doctype=HTML+4.01+Strict

http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/...t.mspx&warning=2&profile=css21&usermedium=all
 
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Sarcastic? - Who me? - Noooo!!!

Yes, I was.

Hence this...

FatRakoon said:
Not since they ripped off Firefox anyway.
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That said, I do use IE but only for my updates

I also use Safari too actually, but the homepage is, or rather was set to u-chube as I cannot be arsed typing it down, I just double-clicked and went there, but FF for everything else.
 
Tolien said:
For the interested, if it's something in the style of the Nutscrape suite you're looking for, there's always Seamonkey.
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Not heard it called that for years!... probly because I stopped using it years ago!! :D

I tried Seamonkey!... Still Prefer Firefox, Thunderbird, Sunbird!! :cool:
 
Most will agree that Netscape died when IE4 came out, with its cutting-edge CSS support and integration into the operating system like users had wanted. Netscape just never really seemed to catch back up. Then they ditched all of their codebase in favour of the Mozilla codebase (a codebase that IMO clearly wasn't ready to be a commercial product due crash bugs, memory leaks etc) and built what was effectively a Netscape "skin" on top of that. It's amazing that it is still here after almost a decade has past since it was first defeated.

GarethDW said:
http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=h...etect+automatically)&doctype=HTML+4.01+Strict

http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/...t.mspx&warning=2&profile=css21&usermedium=all
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You set an override on the DOCTYPE so of course it is going to detect LOADS of errors because the page isn't using the same W3C standard that you are forcing it to. In fact that particular web page doesn't claim to support any W3C standard. It provides no DOCTYPE. The reason it does this is because Microsoft wants the web page to be viewable in any browser - even the really ancient ones which expect a <html> tag to always come first.

Many Firefox lovers simply can't believe that there is an Internet out there that doesn't run on a "HTML 4.01 Strict". But then, it probably doesn't help that the authors and fanatics of these alternative browsers seem to condition their users into thinking this misinformed rubbish.
 
Netscape was the first browser I ever used as my high school had it installed on their 386 machines way back in 1996.

It was actually quite nice to use as well, not a bad browser in it's day.

I've been using IE since IE5 though, I certainly wouldn't switch to anything else (using IE7 to type this). I can't put my finger on what I don't like about FF - the whole browser just feels so "wrong" and "clunky" to use. :/
 
Standards certainly aren't the be-all and end-all, and being as anal about standards as the Opera devs would like to be doesn't help anyone.

NathanE said:
But then, it probably doesn't help that the authors and fanatics of these alternative browsers seem to condition their users into thinking this misinformed rubbish.
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Got a link to anyone from Mozilla ever saying that garbage, because that's exactly what it is?

I think anyone with any sense can see that there are sites out there which don't follow the W3C standards, but all but the most rabid IE fans can see how breaking away from the days of the Browser Wars would help everyone, developer and user alike. Even MS are starting to get the picture, IE7's Standards Compliant Mode is a hell of a lot better than IE6 (which IMO should have gone long before it did, increased competition has to take some of the credit for waking MS up), and IE8 looks like it'll be better still (if only the "IE8 standards mode" didn't require a "special tag").

Contrary to what you suggest, Firefox also has a Quirks Mode, so they're clearly not trying to force anyone into a standards-only world...

Edit:
While I can't usually be bothered with what Asa has to say this is interesting.
 
I myself have dabbled in writing internet pages.

I wont say Web Design because I have been doing BBS pages for long before the internet was around and I have done a load of HTML coding for yonks now and Im still every bit as **** today as I ever was, but the one thing I have done since as early as I possibly could, was write WebPages that are as compatible in every possible browser as I could possibly make it.

Yet, the funny thing is, that the number of people who have knocked me for trying that, is stunning.
 
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