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 reins 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.

Navigator 9.0.0.5 was released earlier today in order to incorporate the security fixes included in Firefox 2.0.0.11. Please be sure to update your installation of Navigator when prompted by the automatic updater, or you can force the update manually by choosing "Check for Updates" from the Help menu. The release notes for this release are here.

You can also download the full installer for Netscape Navigator 9.0.0.5 from browser.netscape.com.

Navigator 9.0.0.4 was released earlier today in order to incorporate the security fixes included in Firefox 2.0.0.10. Please be sure to update your installation of Navigator when prompted by the automatic updater, or you can force the update manually by choosing "Check for Updates" from the Help menu. The release notes for this release are here.

You can also download the full installer for Netscape Navigator 9.0.0.4 from browser.netscape.com.

Netscape is pleased to announce the availability of the first public alpha of Netscape Messenger 9, a mail and news client, to complement the Netscape Navigator Web browser. This release is now available for download from mailnews.netscape.com for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

The release notes for 9.0a1 are here; they include download and installation instructions.

NOTICE: This alpha release is an early developer milestone of the next major version of Messenger. It is being made available for testing purposes only. If you are currently using a previous Netscape mail client, you should not switch to Messenger 9a1 as your primary mail and news client. Feel free, however, to install and test it so that you can help shape the future of this product.

Report any bugs, or request any features, via this feedback form.

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Netscape Messenger 9a1 is based on Thunderbird 2.0.0.9, giving it a secure and efficient base, as well as allowing it to support Thunderbird-compatible extensions. As we move through the alpha period with this product, we look forward to adding the most-requested features from the community, allowing us to improve on an already great product.

Along those lines, we have two questions for you:

1. What is the #1 killer feature that you'd like to see in the final release of Messenger 9?

2. Google and Yahoo have recently made announcements to the effect that they'll be building social networking features into their webmail clients. Are you interested in seeing social features added to Messenger?

Navigator 9.0.0.3 was released earlier today in order to incorporate the stability fixes included in Firefox 2.0.0.9. Please be sure to update your installation of Navigator when prompted by the automatic updater, or you can force the update manually by choosing "Check for Updates" from the Help menu. The release notes for this release are here.

You can also download the full installer for Netscape Navigator 9.0.0.3 from browser.netscape.com.

Navigator 9.0.0.2 was released earlier today in order to fix a bug related to searching using both the location bar and the default Netscape search engine. Please be sure to update your installation of Navigator when prompted by the automatic updater, or you can force the update manually by choosing "Check for Updates" from the Help menu. The release notes for this release are here.

You can also download the full installer for Netscape Navigator 9.0.0.2 from browser.netscape.com.

Navigator 9.0.0.1 was released earlier today in order to incorporate the security fixes included in Firefox 2.0.0.8. Please be sure to update your installation of Navigator when prompted by the automatic updater, or you can force the update manually by choosing "Check for Updates" from the Help menu.

You can also download the full installer for Netscape Navigator 9.0.0.1 from browser.netscape.com.

A few weeks ago, we announced that the social news functionality was being removed from the Netscape Navigator Web browser in parallel with Netscape.com's transition to Propeller.com; at that same time, we promised that we'd release these features as standalone browser extensions.

We're making true on that commitment; the following social news features that had been standard components of early betas of Netscape Navigator 9 have now been reborn as browser extensions. These extensions are compatible with both Firefox 2 and Navigator 9:

• Propeller.com Friends' Activity Sidebar

• Propeller.com Sitemail Notifier

• Propeller.com Tracker
  

• Propeller.com News

The News and Tracker extensions are still available only in the Mozilla Addons sandbox; read this for more information about the sandbox.

Netscape is pleased to announce the immediate availability of the official release of Netscape Navigator 9. The release is available for download from browser.netscape.com.

The following changes have been made since Release Candidate 1:

• Added security measures when installing extensions from the sidebar browser
• Fixed error that was displayed after updating (with auto-update) from 9.0b3 to 9.0RC1

For a complete list of the new features in Netscape 9, see What's New in Netscape Navigator 9? at browser.netscape.com; you may want to also check out the Netscape Navigator FAQ for information on running Navigator 9 alongside previous Netscape browsers.

Netscape is pleased to announce the immediate availability of the first release candidate of Netscape Navigator 9. The release is available for download from browser.netscape.com.

Due to Netscape.com's transition from a social news site to a traditional news portal (and the resulting re-launch of the social news site at Propeller.com), we made the decision to remove the built-in social news functionality from the Netscape Navigator Web browser. We will be releasing those features as stand-alone Propeller-branded browser extensions shortly, and our browser development efforts will be refocused on providing new features and browsing enhancements not specifically tied to a single Web service.

The following changes have been made since Beta 3:

• Added splash screen
• Fixed formatting bug in Mac license
• Fixed a bug that was preventing custom background colors
• Mini-browser enhancements
• Removed social news integration
• Exposed more preferences in the Preference Dialog for tabs and the mini-browser
• Fixed reversed preference for opening searches in new tab
• Fixed Mac bundle signature
• Fixed default icon and file assocations
• Moved custom FTP style out of userContent.css
• Added URL correction preferences to Advanced Preferences page
• Added drop-down menu to print button
• Added drop-down menu to home button
• Added Firefox profile importing
• Added support for importing Netscape 8 bookmarks after the initial install
• Fixed theme issues on Linux
• Fixed truncation of Reload button label
• Fixed bugs with URL correction and country codes
• Added "Save to Linkpad" option to History context menu

For a complete list of the new features in Netscape 9, see What's New in Netscape Navigator 9? at browser.netscape.com; you may want to also check out the Netscape Navigator FAQ for information on running Navigator 9 alongside previous Netscape browsers.

...Mario Herbert, who designed entry #11 from yesterday's post. Congratulations Mario!



Mario's design will be the default splash screen for Netscape Navigator 9. We especially liked the clean look and the throwback feel of the ship's wheel.

Many thanks to all of the other participants in the contest; the choice was difficult to make due to the high quality and aesthetic appeal of all of the entries.

In no particular order, here are all of the entries in the Navigator 9 splash screen design contest. Feel free to campaign for your favorite in the comments section.

We've gotten some great entries in the splash screen design contest for Navigator 9; we'll be accepting entries until 11:59PM Central Time on Friday, September 21, so you only have two and a half days left to enter. After the entry period ends, we'll post all of the submissions and announce a winner.

It looks like "Money" is winning the poll as to what the designer of the first-place entry should receive, with the other three options in a tie for second place. We'll have to see if we can't put together a prize package that satisfies everyone, but remember that you can't win anything if you don't enter; send your designs in PNG format to [email protected] by midnight on Friday to have a shot at the prize, the fame, and the glory.

We have just completed our planned changes to Netscape.com. As we originally reported, a new portal has been launched on Netscape.com, and the social news site previously located there has been moved to propeller.com.

Over the last week, we have received some very positive feedback, both from early social news adopters and from those who were gradually won over by the communal experience at Netscape.com. I want to thank you all for your great feedback, and want to reiterate that the Propeller social news experience is not going away. On the contrary! In the coming weeks, you will be able to see Propeller content on both the new Netscape.com portal, as well as AOL News.

We have not been neglecting our member feedback either. We do realize that there have been undue performance problems and a few technical glitches over the past few weeks. Let me apologize for this poor user experience, and assure you that we are hard at work in fixing these. We have also had more spam escape our filters lately, and I want to apologize for that as well, and give thanks to all of our great members who reported these stories as such.

Also, we are not happy to simply stand pat with our existing features. In the near future, we will be able to share information about our new social news platform, which we are extremely excited about. It will bring together the best of all worlds: a world class design team, an advanced website platform, and a host of new and interesting ways to enjoy social news.

Best of all, we won't rush the new social news site to the public. We will want to hear your opinion on the new site, as it is because of you, the newly named Propeller member base, that we continue to develop social news services. We really hope that the Netscape.com social news community will come visit Propeller.com. We are confident that you will feel right at home!

Netscape Community Update

We promised you in our last communication about the Netscape.com site that we would get right back to you about where your current social news site will live after we redirect to the new Netscape portal.

The Netscape social news experience that you are currently using today will be migrated and revealed soon at http://www.propeller.com/. We're working hard behind the scenes to ensure a smooth transition before we officially launch at this new destination.


It is important to us that you feel empowered to choose how you want to consume your news and participate in the community. As we mentioned in a recent post, the Netscape.com site will soon be redirected to the new Netscape portal, a more traditional and editorially-driven news experience. It's already live, so you can check it out now if you haven't already. You'll notice some elements of our social news site there in short order, so that it will be easy for you to go back and forth and engage in each if you like.

Please continue to check back with us on the Netscape blog (or subscribe to our RSS feed for real time information), as we'll be keeping you in the know about when you can expect to see the Netscape social news site up and running at http://www.propeller.com/.

Our goal is to allow you to continue to share and communicate with each other around the news stories of interest to you, so you can anticipate that the social news site will be coming sooner than later.

We appreciate the patience of our community members as we make these adjustments to better provide you with the options that you deserve.

~ The Netscape Team