RIP Netscape Navigator: October 1994 - Feb 2008

greymatters · 28th December 2007, 12:55 PM

We are gathered here today to mourn the passing of Netscape Navigator.

Quote:

A Sad Milestone: AOL To Discontinue Netscape Browser Development

Please observe a moment of silence for the Netscape browser. Netscape Navigator, the browser that launched the commercial Internet in October 1994, will die on February 1, 2008. AOL, which acquired Netscape in November 1998 for $4.2 billion, will announce today that they will discontinue development of the browser, currently on version 9.

Does anyone have memories of the deceased they would like to share?

WildCat · 28th December 2007, 01:01 PM

Originally Posted by greymatters

Does anyone have memories of the deceased they would like to share?

Yes, the minute AOL acquired it they screwed it up so badly my computer slowed to a crawl, and I started using IE for the first time. I can't believe it lasted so long!

tsg · 28th December 2007, 01:46 PM

Originally Posted by greymatters

We are gathered here today to mourn the passing of Netscape Navigator.

Does anyone have memories of the deceased they would like to share?

Mozilla.

The Central Scrutinizer · 28th December 2007, 05:48 PM

I´m still running Mosaic. I didn´t realize they had updated it.

FFed · 29th December 2007, 12:00 AM

I'm still trying to get over the death of Neoplanet.

six7s · 29th December 2007, 01:24 PM

Quote:

In an email exchange yesterday with Tom Drapeau, Director of AOL/Netscape development, he said that only a handful of AOL engineers are still tasked with keeping the browser updated. Most of their efforts have been aimed at creating a Netscape-skinned version of Firefox with the Netscape look and feel.

I guess that (Netstripe) is better than nothing for those who are somehow attached to the default theme for the Netscape Navigator 9 browser

For nostalgia die-hards, there is a Netscape 3.0 skin for Firefox <weirdhuh/>

Netscape 3 by ~Pikachu90000

pikachu90000.deviantart.com

skoob · 29th December 2007, 02:02 PM

Originally Posted by The Book of Mozilla, 7:15

And so at last the beast fell and the unbelievers rejoiced. But all was not lost, for from the ash rose a great bird. The bird gazed down upon the unbelievers and cast fire and thunder upon them. For the beast had been reborn with its strength renewed, and the followers of Mammon cowered in horror.

about:mozilla is even more true now,

greymatters · 2nd January 2008, 01:17 AM

bigred · 3rd January 2008, 08:02 AM

Hell I miss Mosaic.

Segnosaur · 3rd January 2008, 10:07 AM

Originally Posted by The Central Scrutinizer

I´m still running Mosaic. I didn´t realize they had updated it.

Spoiled Wussy... Some of us are still using Gopher, although we are very lonely. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_(protocol) )

Segnosaur · 3rd January 2008, 10:09 AM

I remember at the time AOL first purchased netscape, there were rumours that AOL wasn't really interested in using/distributing the browser; instead, they wanted to use it to leverage better financial terms out of Microsoft. (This was quite a while ago though so things are a bit fuzzy.) Anyone remember those rumours?

tsg · 3rd January 2008, 10:15 AM

Originally Posted by Segnosaur

Spoiled Wussy... Some of us are still using Gopher, although we are very lonely. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_(protocol) )

Don't you get tired of reading doctoral theses from 1987?

Vitnir · 3rd January 2008, 11:30 AM

I found the 0.9 version on a floppy in a box, a single .exe file that is about 700kb

joobie · 3rd January 2008, 12:24 PM

take a tour of netscape 0.93b.

Starthinker · 3rd January 2008, 12:48 PM

My first internet browser was made out of gravel. You guys are spoiled.

HarryKeogh · 3rd January 2008, 01:05 PM

Ahhh, memories. There used to be a time when Netscape Navigator was my favorite ~~piece of software to view porn on the internet~~ web browser.

tsg · 3rd January 2008, 01:09 PM

Originally Posted by Starthinker

My first internet browser was made out of gravel. You guys are spoiled.

Gravel? Luxury!

We had to tap out the bits manually on the wire. Even then there was only one other person on the internet. And he only wanted me to help him get his money out of Nigeria. And sell me a r0lex. And make my pen1s bigger.

Segnosaur · 4th January 2008, 09:18 AM

Originally Posted by tsg

Gravel? Luxury!

We had to tap out the bits manually on the wire. Even then there was only one other person on the internet. And he only wanted me to help him get his money out of Nigeria. And sell me a r0lex. And make my pen1s bigger.

You actually had wire? All I had when I started on the internet was string.

Lord Emsworth · 5th January 2008, 12:10 PM

Originally Posted by Segnosaur

You actually had wire? All I had when I started on the internet was string.

String

Pigeons!

Denver · 5th January 2008, 01:20 PM

I was administrating a web site at the time the netscape navigator came out, and so I was able to maintain a web page showing the browser usage break-out. It was very interesting when Internet Explorer came out, to watch, month by month, how it was taking over the browser space. I think it was 12-18 months before it was totally dominating netscape.

Also, seems to me the first browser I used was called WWW I think, the original developed by Tim Berners-Lee.

http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/WorldWideWeb.html

six7s · 5th January 2008, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by Lord Emsworth

Originally Posted by Segnosaur

You actually had wire? All I had when I started on the internet was string.

String

Pigeons!

They have been re-deployed

PigeonRank™: The technology behind Google's great results

Quote:

The heart of Google's search technology is PigeonRank™, a system for ranking web pages developed by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University.

Building upon the breakthrough work of B. F. Skinner, Page and Brin reasoned that low cost pigeon clusters (PCs) could be used to compute the relative value of web pages faster than human editors or machine-based algorithms. And while Google has dozens of engineers working to improve every aspect of our service on a daily basis, PigeonRank continues to provide the basis for all of our web search tools.

http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html

volatile · 5th January 2008, 01:32 PM

Originally Posted by Segnosaur

Spoiled Wussy... Some of us are still using Gopher, although we are very lonely. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_(protocol) )

Gopher? I'm reading this on Lynx!

---------------

Not really, but that was my browser of choice (well, of necessity) in 1994!

Kopji · 5th January 2008, 07:14 PM

It is not a great commentary on AOL that they hung onto this as long as they did. Nostalgia does not a good business case make.

joobie · 5th January 2008, 09:20 PM

i used to hope for viola to take over because it promised to be standards compliant. guess it never did. this makes me feel old before my time.

moopet · 6th January 2008, 03:30 AM

There are dedicated programs for viewing webpages? I've been using telnet! Why did nobody tell me?

greymatters · 6th January 2008, 12:15 PM

You didn't ask, moopet.

ddt · 6th January 2008, 02:02 PM

Originally Posted by greymatters

Does anyone have memories of the deceased they would like to share?

The long time I was stuck with buggy Netscape 4.7 on my Linux system!

ddt · 6th January 2008, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by Kopji

It is not a great commentary on AOL that they hung onto this as long as they did. Nostalgia does not a good business case make.

Did they really hung onto Netscape? I was under the impression that the Windows install used the Explorer renderer as default...

tsg · 6th January 2008, 06:28 PM

Originally Posted by Lord Emsworth

String

Pigeons!

Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of magnetic tape.

Ohmer · 9th January 2008, 03:54 PM

Originally Posted by Segnosaur

Spoiled Wussy... Some of us are still using Gopher, although we are very lonely. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_(protocol) )

I remember our IT department discussing whether or not we should keep our gopher server or implement a web server. We weren't sure which way things were going to go.

Now we have 4 full time employees who do nothing but maintain our web presence.

28th December 2007, 12:55 PM	#1
greymatters Muse Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 753	RIP Netscape Navigator: October 1994 - Feb 2008 We are gathered here today to mourn the passing of Netscape Navigator. Quote: A Sad Milestone: AOL To Discontinue Netscape Browser Development Please observe a moment of silence for the Netscape browser. Netscape Navigator, the browser that launched the commercial Internet in October 1994, will die on February 1, 2008. AOL, which acquired Netscape in November 1998 for $4.2 billion, will announce today that they will discontinue development of the browser, currently on version 9. Does anyone have memories of the deceased they would like to share?
	__________________ Grey Matters: Blog \| Videos \| Mental Gym \| Presentation \| Original Products \| Recommended Products Train and Strain Your Brain to Entertain!

28th December 2007, 01:46 PM	#3
tsg Philosopher Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Location: Location: Posts: 6,771	Originally Posted by greymatters We are gathered here today to mourn the passing of Netscape Navigator. Does anyone have memories of the deceased they would like to share? Mozilla.
	__________________ Being offended by someone questioning your beliefs is a sign that you should be questioning them. In the beginning there was nothing. And the Lord said "Let There Be Light!" And still there was nothing, but at least now you could see it.

28th December 2007, 05:48 PM	#4
The Central Scrutinizer Penultimate Amazing Pither Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: The White Zone Posts: 42,265	I´m still running Mosaic. I didn´t realize they had updated it.
	__________________ If I see somebody with a gun on a plane? I'll kill him.

29th December 2007, 01:24 PM	#6
six7s veretic Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Aotearoa Posts: 8,710	Nostalgia Today: It sure ain't what it used to be Quote: In an email exchange yesterday with Tom Drapeau, Director of AOL/Netscape development, he said that only a handful of AOL engineers are still tasked with keeping the browser updated. Most of their efforts have been aimed at creating a Netscape-skinned version of Firefox with the Netscape look and feel. I guess that (Netstripe) is better than nothing for those who are somehow attached to the default theme for the Netscape Navigator 9 browser For nostalgia die-hards, there is a Netscape 3.0 skin for Firefox <weirdhuh/> Netscape 3 by ~Pikachu90000 pikachu90000.deviantart.com
	__________________ Evolution and the rest of reality fascinates the be-jeebus out of me!

29th December 2007, 02:02 PM	#7
skoob Thinker Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 146	Originally Posted by The Book of Mozilla, 7:15 And so at last the beast fell and the unbelievers rejoiced. But all was not lost, for from the ash rose a great bird. The bird gazed down upon the unbelievers and cast fire and thunder upon them. For the beast had been reborn with its strength renewed, and the followers of Mammon cowered in horror. about:mozilla is even more true now,
skoob Thinker Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 146

28th December 2007, 01:01 PM	#2
WildCat NWO Master Conspirator Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Albany Park, Chicago Posts: 49,006	Originally Posted by greymatters Does anyone have memories of the deceased they would like to share? Yes, the minute AOL acquired it they screwed it up so badly my computer slowed to a crawl, and I started using IE for the first time. I can't believe it lasted so long!

29th December 2007, 12:00 AM	#5
FFed Muse Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Smithers, BC Posts: 888	I'm still trying to get over the death of Neoplanet.

2nd January 2008, 01:17 AM	#8
greymatters Muse Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 753
	__________________ Grey Matters: Blog \| Videos \| Mental Gym \| Presentation \| Original Products \| Recommended Products Train and Strain Your Brain to Entertain!

3rd January 2008, 08:02 AM	#9
bigred Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: USA Posts: 12,533	Hell I miss Mosaic.

3rd January 2008, 10:07 AM	#10
Segnosaur Philosopher Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Canada, eh? Posts: 6,072	Originally Posted by The Central Scrutinizer I´m still running Mosaic. I didn´t realize they had updated it. Spoiled Wussy... Some of us are still using Gopher, although we are very lonely. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_(protocol) )
	__________________ Trust me, I know what I'm doing. - Sledgehammer I cheered when then the WTC came down. - UndercoverElephant (a.k.a. JustGeoff) I cheer Bin Laden... - JustGeoff (a.k.a. UndercoverElephant) Bin Laden delivered justice - JustGeoff (a.k.a. UndercoverElephant) Men shop for lingerie the way kids shop for breakfast cereal... they will buy something they know nothing about, just to get the prize inside. - Jeff Foxworthy

3rd January 2008, 10:09 AM	#11
Segnosaur Philosopher Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Canada, eh? Posts: 6,072	I remember at the time AOL first purchased netscape, there were rumours that AOL wasn't really interested in using/distributing the browser; instead, they wanted to use it to leverage better financial terms out of Microsoft. (This was quite a while ago though so things are a bit fuzzy.) Anyone remember those rumours?
	__________________ Trust me, I know what I'm doing. - Sledgehammer I cheered when then the WTC came down. - UndercoverElephant (a.k.a. JustGeoff) I cheer Bin Laden... - JustGeoff (a.k.a. UndercoverElephant) Bin Laden delivered justice - JustGeoff (a.k.a. UndercoverElephant) Men shop for lingerie the way kids shop for breakfast cereal... they will buy something they know nothing about, just to get the prize inside. - Jeff Foxworthy

3rd January 2008, 10:15 AM	#12
tsg Philosopher Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Location: Location: Posts: 6,771	Originally Posted by Segnosaur Spoiled Wussy... Some of us are still using Gopher, although we are very lonely. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_(protocol) ) Don't you get tired of reading doctoral theses from 1987?
	__________________ Being offended by someone questioning your beliefs is a sign that you should be questioning them. In the beginning there was nothing. And the Lord said "Let There Be Light!" And still there was nothing, but at least now you could see it.

3rd January 2008, 11:30 AM	#13
Vitnir Muse Join Date: May 2002 Location: Sweden Posts: 669	I found the 0.9 version on a floppy in a box, a single .exe file that is about 700kb
	__________________ There is no spoon.

3rd January 2008, 12:24 PM	#14
joobie i don't care Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: in my dreams, i am still in perú Posts: 2,517	take a tour of netscape 0.93b.

3rd January 2008, 12:48 PM	#15
Starthinker Philosopher Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 5,014	My first internet browser was made out of gravel. You guys are spoiled.
	__________________ \|¦¦\|¦ \|¦\|\|\|\|¦\|\|\|¦\|\|¦¦\|¦\|\|\|\|\|\|\|¦\|¦¦¦¦\|¦¦¦¦\|\|¦\|¦\|¦¦\|¦ \|¦¦\|¦ He who doubts victory has already lost the battle. Below the navel there is neither religion nor truth.

3rd January 2008, 01:05 PM	#16
HarryKeogh Catholic School Survivor Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: New York, NY Posts: 11,342	Ahhh, memories. There used to be a time when Netscape Navigator was my favorite ~~piece of software to view porn on the internet~~ web browser.

3rd January 2008, 01:09 PM	#17
tsg Philosopher Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Location: Location: Posts: 6,771	Originally Posted by Starthinker My first internet browser was made out of gravel. You guys are spoiled. Gravel? Luxury! We had to tap out the bits manually on the wire. Even then there was only one other person on the internet. And he only wanted me to help him get his money out of Nigeria. And sell me a r0lex. And make my pen1s bigger.
	__________________ Being offended by someone questioning your beliefs is a sign that you should be questioning them. In the beginning there was nothing. And the Lord said "Let There Be Light!" And still there was nothing, but at least now you could see it.

4th January 2008, 09:18 AM	#18
Segnosaur Philosopher Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Canada, eh? Posts: 6,072	Originally Posted by tsg Gravel? Luxury! We had to tap out the bits manually on the wire. Even then there was only one other person on the internet. And he only wanted me to help him get his money out of Nigeria. And sell me a r0lex. And make my pen1s bigger. You actually had wire? All I had when I started on the internet was string.
	__________________ Trust me, I know what I'm doing. - Sledgehammer I cheered when then the WTC came down. - UndercoverElephant (a.k.a. JustGeoff) I cheer Bin Laden... - JustGeoff (a.k.a. UndercoverElephant) Bin Laden delivered justice - JustGeoff (a.k.a. UndercoverElephant) Men shop for lingerie the way kids shop for breakfast cereal... they will buy something they know nothing about, just to get the prize inside. - Jeff Foxworthy

5th January 2008, 12:10 PM	#19
Lord Emsworth Je ne suis pas une de vos élèves Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Through the Cables and the Underground ... Posts: 2,827	Originally Posted by Segnosaur You actually had wire? All I had when I started on the internet was string. String Pigeons!
	Last edited by Lord Emsworth; 5th January 2008 at 12:12 PM.

5th January 2008, 01:20 PM	#20
Denver Philosopher Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Denver, Colorado Posts: 6,597	I was administrating a web site at the time the netscape navigator came out, and so I was able to maintain a web page showing the browser usage break-out. It was very interesting when Internet Explorer came out, to watch, month by month, how it was taking over the browser space. I think it was 12-18 months before it was totally dominating netscape. Also, seems to me the first browser I used was called WWW I think, the original developed by Tim Berners-Lee. http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/WorldWideWeb.html

5th January 2008, 01:30 PM	#21
six7s veretic Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Aotearoa Posts: 8,710	Originally Posted by Lord Emsworth Originally Posted by Segnosaur You actually had wire? All I had when I started on the internet was string. String Pigeons! They have been re-deployed PigeonRank™: The technology behind Google's great results Quote: The heart of Google's search technology is PigeonRank™, a system for ranking web pages developed by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University. Building upon the breakthrough work of B. F. Skinner, Page and Brin reasoned that low cost pigeon clusters (PCs) could be used to compute the relative value of web pages faster than human editors or machine-based algorithms. And while Google has dozens of engineers working to improve every aspect of our service on a daily basis, PigeonRank continues to provide the basis for all of our web search tools. http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html
	__________________ Evolution and the rest of reality fascinates the be-jeebus out of me!

5th January 2008, 01:32 PM	#22
volatile Scholar and a Gentleman Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: The Uncanny Valley Posts: 6,730	Originally Posted by Segnosaur Spoiled Wussy... Some of us are still using Gopher, although we are very lonely. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_(protocol) ) Gopher? I'm reading this on Lynx! --------------- Not really, but that was my browser of choice (well, of necessity) in 1994!
	__________________ - ""My tribe has a saying: 'If you're bleeding, look for a man with scars'" - Leela, Doctor Who 'Robots of Death'.

5th January 2008, 07:14 PM	#23
Kopji Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Mogollon Rim Posts: 7,697	It is not a great commentary on AOL that they hung onto this as long as they did. Nostalgia does not a good business case make.

5th January 2008, 09:20 PM	#24
joobie i don't care Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: in my dreams, i am still in perú Posts: 2,517	i used to hope for viola to take over because it promised to be standards compliant. guess it never did. this makes me feel old before my time.

6th January 2008, 03:30 AM	#25
moopet binary decision maker Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Scotland Posts: 705	There are dedicated programs for viewing webpages? I've been using telnet! Why did nobody tell me?

6th January 2008, 12:15 PM	#26
greymatters Muse Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 753	You didn't ask, moopet.
	__________________ Grey Matters: Blog \| Videos \| Mental Gym \| Presentation \| Original Products \| Recommended Products Train and Strain Your Brain to Entertain!

6th January 2008, 02:02 PM	#27
ddt Mafia Penguin Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Netherlands Posts: 10,318	Originally Posted by greymatters Does anyone have memories of the deceased they would like to share? The long time I was stuck with buggy Netscape 4.7 on my Linux system!

6th January 2008, 02:04 PM	#28
ddt Mafia Penguin Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Netherlands Posts: 10,318	Originally Posted by Kopji It is not a great commentary on AOL that they hung onto this as long as they did. Nostalgia does not a good business case make. Did they really hung onto Netscape? I was under the impression that the Windows install used the Explorer renderer as default...

6th January 2008, 06:28 PM	#29
tsg Philosopher Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Location: Location: Posts: 6,771	Originally Posted by Lord Emsworth String Pigeons! Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of magnetic tape.
	__________________ Being offended by someone questioning your beliefs is a sign that you should be questioning them. In the beginning there was nothing. And the Lord said "Let There Be Light!" And still there was nothing, but at least now you could see it.

9th January 2008, 03:54 PM	#30
Ohmer Muse Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Portland Oregon Posts: 678	Originally Posted by Segnosaur Spoiled Wussy... Some of us are still using Gopher, although we are very lonely. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_(protocol) ) I remember our IT department discussing whether or not we should keep our gopher server or implement a web server. We weren't sure which way things were going to go. Now we have 4 full time employees who do nothing but maintain our web presence.