End of an Era

I suppose that it was bound to happen. This week, Netscape announces the end of support for the Netscape product in February, 2008.

http://blog.netscape.com/2007/12/28/end-of-support-for-netscape-web-browsers

This is a really sad announcement. With the popularity of the web in the 1990s, Netscape was the real alternative to the Internet Explorer browser. People tried both and Netscape proved to be a really functional alternative. Over the time of its development, Netscape tried to become your choice in an all-in-one internet suite. Not only could you browse, but you could do email, design webpages, read newsgroups, …

It was a powerful alternative that I chose to use with one of my first ISPs. The problem with an all-in-one solution is that it gets big in a hurry. Longer download times, and more things that needed patching turned me to using Firefox when all that I wanted to do was quickly get started and browse the web.

If the all-in-one suite appeals to you, continue to use Netscape. It’s as good as it ever was. Or, there are related products like Mozilla or Sea Monkey that you may find appealing as development for these product should continue.

It’s sad to see Netscape end up like this. My thanks to the developers who helped forge the web and desktop connectivity to what it is today.

Posted on January 4…eWeek has a tribute outlining all of Netscape’s contributions.
http://www.eweek.com/slideshow_viewer/0,1205,l=&s=25942&a=222626&po=1,00.asp?p=y