AOL support for Netscape browsers has been extended one month, to March 1st. Mozilla, Flock and AOL are working together to provide tools to ease the migration of existing Netscape browser users to our recommended Flock and Firefox alternatives. Both Flock and Firefox are built on the same Mozilla Firefox codebase.

There will be an update made available for Netscape 9 users through the established Netscape browser update feature that will streamline the process of choosing from these two great browser alternatives.

As promised, the Flock team has delivered a new version of their social browser with an import feature for Netscape Navigator 9 users looking to migrate to a new browser.

As shown in our previous post, in order to migrate from Netscape 9 to Flock, first download and install Flock. The installation process will ask whether or not to import from a previous browser, and there is now a "Netscape" option.

For those who miss the import question - start the browser, and choose File -> Import, then the "Netscape" option.

Its that simple!

But Wait... There's More

In addition to the Netscape import capability, the following fixes are present in Flock v1.0.7:

• Allow Non-admin Windows accounts to install Flock. Please note that on Vista you will still be asked for an administrator password. Also, no Flock shortcut will be created on the desktop.
• Search plugins without associated icons no longer break the search flyout of the search box.
• Fixed Ctrl and Shift functions in the Favorites Manager.

The only thing left to say is, enjoy Flock!

Netstripe was the Netscape Navigator theme we previously released for Firefox. The Netscape team is discontinuing our development of this theme and is disabling it from the Mozilla add-on website.

Sailfish, a long time theme editor and Netscape champion, has created with our approval the successor to the Netstripe theme. This new theme is called Simple Green.

Simple Green is a bundled theme containing both the browser (Navigator) and mailnews (Messenger) skins thus working for both Firefox and Thunderbird. It contains bug fixes and minor enhancement work. His plan is to support the theme through Firefox 2 and Thunderbird 2, at minimum.

The theme can be located on the Mozilla add-ons website or you can get it with all the latest changes from https://www.projectit.com/.

All bug reports, enhancement requests and questions should be sent directly to [email protected].

The RSS specification documents, DTDs, and help files for the first versions of RSS (v0.9, v0.91) are being moved to RSSBoard.org, where they will be hosted by the RSS Advisory Board in perpetuity. Netscape will continue to host these files (via redirect) on the My Netscape domain (my.netscape.com) until August 1st, 2008.

Netscape launched RSS on March 15, 1999, with the My Netscape Network and an RSS 0.90 specification written by Ramanathan Guha. Four months later, RSS 0.91 was launched with a specification written by Dan Libby. Five years after revolutionizing the web browser, Netscape sparked another revolution on the web with XML-based syndication.

All websites that produce RSS 0.9 or RSS 0.91 feeds will need to either convert to using the current standard (RSS v2.0), or if desired, convert their v0.9/v0.91 feeds properly using this guide, provided by the RSS Advisory Board, by August 1st. This is a great opportunity for websites to upgrade to RSS 2.0 though, as the conversion guide mentions:

"You can do a lot more with RSS 2.0 that's not covered here, because the format has become more versatile since its humble origins as Netscape's headline-exchange format in 1999. RSS 2.0 supports podcasting, tagging, XML namespaces and other improvements. The RSS Profile contains our best advice for how to take full advantage of the capabilities of RSS."

Here are some links to relevant documents, now hosted on RSSBoard.org:

RSS v0.9 spec: http://www.rssboard.org/rss-0-9-0
RSS v0.9 DTD: http://www.rssboard.org/rss-0.9.dtd
RSS v0.9 Help: http://www.rssboard.org/mnn-help
RSS v0.9 FAQ: http://www.rssboard.org/mnn-faq
RSS v0.9 Character Encoding: http://www.rssboard.org/html-entities
RSS v0.9 Troubleshooting: http://www.rssboard.org/mnn-troubleshooting
RSS v0.9 Future Directions: http://www.rssboard.org/mnn-futures
RSS v0.9 Terms of Use: http://www.rssboard.org/mnn-terms-of-use

RSS v0.91 spec: http://www.rssboard.org/rss-0-9-1-netscape
RSS v0.91 DTD: http://www.rssboard.org/rss-0.91.dtd
RSS 1.0 schema: http://www.rssboard.org/schema-1.0.dtd

For anyone who has questions about upgrading, or need help with RSS 0.9 or RSS 0.91, feel free to post on the RSS Advisory Board's mailing list.

Following on from yesterday's announcement, Netscape users eager to give Flock a try do not have to start with a blank slate. The team at Flock has created a simple migration path for people who want to use Flock and have access to their profile information, bookmarks, etc, from their old Netscape profiles.

This migration path will be available in the Flock v1.06 release, scheduled for early next week. Here is a look at how the migration works: this first image is a dialog box that a person would see when installing Flock - notice the "Netscape" option here under "Import Settings and Data".


Once the "Netscape" profile, etc, has been imported, the remainder of the Flock install proceeds as usual. If you already have Flock installed, and also want to benefit from this simple migration, you can import Netscape settings (shown here on Mac OS X):

Previously, the Netscape Team recommended that Netscape browser users adopt Firefox as their next web browser. We would also like to suggest Flock as another alternative to the Netscape web browser. Flock is a web browser that combines all of the advantages of Firefox with the addition of social integration. If you are looking for your next browser and are interested in Firefox with social integration, give Flock a try.

Don't Know Much About Flock?

Flock is a web browser, built on Mozilla's Firefox codebase, enhanced to deliver your friends, feeds, sites and media in one convenient view, putting you at your own epicenter of interests and activity. It eliminates the need to continually click from site to site to stay up to speed with your friends and interests.

Flock is the browser for people who like to be connected, informed and in control.

• Connected to their community of friends and family
• Connected to their favorite services, like Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, and others
• Connected to their favorite content, from anywhere on the web: Nytimes, CNN, etc
• Connected to their favorite video and photos from Flickr, YouTube, Photobucket, Truveo and others

My World	People	Sharing

For those interested in trying Flock, you can download it here.

Some people may be confused by the recent end of service announcement and how it relates to the Netscape ISP. To clarify, the previous announcement does not effect the internet service provider in any way. The Netscape Internet Service Provider will continue its operations. http://isp.netscape.com will continue to exist as the ISP's homepage, and will continue to be programmed.

Visit http://help.isp.netscape.com/Netscape/supportcentral/supportcentral.do?id=m1 for any Netscape Internet Service Provider questions you may have.

Now that we have recommended users adopt Firefox and Thunderbird for their browser and e-mail needs, some people have asked how to go about migrating their data. Thanks to the Netscape Champions we now have some FAQ on how to accomplish this.

Q: How Do I Migrate From Netscape Navigator 9 To Firefox?
A: Note: This will only work with a new installation of Firefox
Note: Make sure that Navigator and Firefox are NOT running

1. Install Firefox and make a note of where the profile is located, usually in C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox

2. Locate your Navigator 9 profile, usually in C:\Documents and Settings\usernameApplication Data\Netscape\Navigator

3. In the Navigator directory, hilite both "profiles.ini" and the /Profile/ directory and copy both to the clipboard using CTRL+C

4. Go to the /Firefox/ directory and paste the contents of the clipboard using CTRL+V and when prompted to overwrite, answer YES

That's it, when you start Firefox, the Navigator 9 profile will now be in Firefox

Note: You MUST have "Show hidden files and folders" enabled in your explorer view options
Note: If you have multiple profiles, all will be migrated using this method.

Q: How Do I Migrate From Netscape Messenger 9 To Thunderbird?
A: The best way is to move the profile directory and profiles.ini in the same fashion as moving from Netscape Navigator 9 to Firefox that is outlined above.

Q: How Do I Migrate From Netscape 8 To Firefox?
A: There is no direct way to migrate to Firefox successfully as there is no import routine included in Firefox to migrate from Netscape 8.

However, through a lot of trial and error on my part, I have come up with a successful method. Assuming that you have not installed Navigator 9:

Note: Make sure any master passwords are removed before migrating.

1. Make sure that Netscape 8 is your default browser => Tools => Options => General => Default Browser

2. Download (http://browser.netscape.com) Navigator 9.0.0.5 and install. During installation you will be prompted to migrate from a list of applications, choose Netscape 8. That's it, all there is to it

If Navigator 9 is already installed:

1. Make sure that Netscape 8 is your default browser **IMPORTANT**

2. Edit your Navigator 9 desktop shortcut by right-clicking the shortcut and select "Properties"

3. Edit the commmand line, so that it reads: "C:\Program Files\Netscape\Navigator 9\navigator.exe" -p "default" -migration

Note: "default" is the profile name, yours may vary.

4. If you have more than one profile, substitute "default" for the name of your other profile(s)

5. Double click the shortcut to initiate the migration routine.

Now the move to Firefox:

1. Install Firefox (latest version)

2. Locate your profile path for Navigator 9, usually in: C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Netscape\Navigator

Note: There is one directory /profiles/ and two files => pluginreg.dat and Profiles.ini.

Hilite the profiles directory and profiles.ini only and hit CTRL+C to copy to the clipboard

3. Locate your new Firefox profile in: C:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox Now, hit CTRL+V to paste from the clipboard and when prompted to overwrite, answer YES

4. Your Navigator 9 profile has now been transferred to Firefox which was originally migrated from Netscape 8

Q: How do I migrate from Netscape 6 or 7 to Firefox?
A: New installs of Firefox will present you with a migration wizard dialog allowing you to select to migrate from Netscape 6 or 7.

Q: How do I migrate from Netscape 6 or 7 to Thunderbird?
A: New installs of Thunderbird will present you with a migration wizard dialog allowing you to select to migrate from Netscape 6 or 7.

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.