According to the Netscape blog, Netscape browser development is done.
Good riddance.
One of the primary reasons that Firefox exists is because a few Netscape employees working on the Mozilla project realized back in 2001 and 2002 that Netscape was incapable of, or more precisely, unwilling to, make a really great browser. The reason was pretty simple -- their motivation.
Netscape's only real revenue back then was from advertising at their web properties (netscape.com, Netscape webmail, etc.) and the big reason they were allowed by AOL to continue building a browser was to drive traffic to those web properties. As a matter of fact, the team making the browser at Netscape reported into the AOL-TW group that owned those web properties.
Here's a perfect example of how we knew Netscape just wasn't going to be able to make a great browser. Back when Mozilla was getting ready to ship Mozilla 1.0, the basis for Netscape 7, the Netscape browser team was required to remove the pop-up blocking feature that those same Netscape engineers had developed in Mozilla. The reason? Obviously because AOL and Netscape web properties generated lots of advertising revenue from pop-up advertising and they couldn't very well ship a product that closed off that revenue stream.
Well, as you can imagine, Mozilla 1.0 shipped with a pop-up blocker and Netscape 7.0 shipped without a pop-up blocker and the tech press destroyed Netscape because it was so transparent what had happened.
In a desperate attempt to counter the negative press, Netscape whipped up a super-fast follow-up version, Netscape 7.0.1. This new version included Mozilla's pop-up blocker -- but here's the funny (sad) part, they disabled it for AOL/TimeWarner/Netscape web sites.
But here's the real kicker. You're gonna love this one. Netscape goes on a bit PR push, "Get the new Netscape 7, Now With Pop-up Blocking!!" Users download and install the all new Netscape7, Now With Pop-up Blocking!! and on first launch it loads up the Netscape.com homepage, which, get ready for it, yep, you guessed correctly, launched pop-ups.
That was 2002, the year that Blake, Dave, Ben, and I started the project that would eventually become Firefox.
And it wasn't just the pop-up blocker. In desperate attempts to stay viable to AOL, Netscape began selling off real-estate in the browser chrome. Default Boookmarks were sold. Sidebars were sold. "Personal Toolbar" space was auctioned off to the extent that a default install of Netscape 7 offered no space for any user ("personal") bookmarks at all. Hell, they even sold a primary navigation button -- "print plus", a menu that hung off of the Print button that did nothing but send users to buy printer supplies. Toss in a big pile desktop shortcuts for every AOL product under the sun that came default with every Netscape install and you start to get a pretty clear picture.
They drained every penny they could out of the browser until finally giving up in 2003 and closing down browser development at Netscape. Future versions were outsourced efforts built on Mozilla and Microsoft technologies and offering pretty awful user experiences and even further tie-ins to AOL and AOL partner services. Combine that with Netscape and AOL web services tanking and you've got a pretty clear death spiral.
I couldn't end this rant without saying that I'm hugely thankful to a lot of amazing people from Netscape who made Mozilla happen back in 1997-8 and to all of the great engineers and other talent at Netscape that built much the platform we depend on today. Those people deserve a lot of credit for Mozilla's and Firefox's successes today.
Having said that, I'm glad that sad beast has finally been put down.
update: TechCrunch has more, though I don't buy that Tom Drapeau comment about no room for a browser in AOL's new ad-supported world. Hell, that's the only reason they've kept a browser around as long as they have -- because it was useful in driving traffic to their ad-supported world. The real truth is probably closer to "we weren't building a compelling enough product to be able use it to bring users to our ad-supported world and it doesn't make sense spending more on browser development than we recoup in increased ad revenue as a result of that browser work."
update2: yeah, I know they brought the browser back in-house but that clearly didn't come with increased commitment to making it a viable product.
update3: Ryan Naraine's got another reason to celebrate this news: security.
update4: A couple people have asked so I'll answer here. I was an AOL Netscape employee from 2000-2003. Before that I was a Mozilla volunteer for a year or so.
Posted by: Grayson Mixon | December 28, 2007 12:54 PM
I still remember the Netscape Browser Beta, which was based on Firefox (and IE, since you could switch between the two). It was an utter train-wreck of UI design and I tore it to pieces with a Flickr screenshot, here:
http://flickr.com/photos/stray/1812720/
Farewell, Netscape. You had "it" once, but it's long gone and Mozilla is where "it" went.
Posted by: Robert D. | December 28, 2007 1:28 PM
Ryan Naraine couldn't even get his fact straight, current version of NS is 9.0.0.5, based on firefox 2.0.0.11, you are not happy with its security? then you are not gonna happy with firefox 2.0.0.11's security as well.
Asa, your arrogance is bugging me more and more lately, your ignorant attack on everything is ridiculous. The death of NS is a sad thing, and I hope you do NOT represent the official of mozilla organization and contributors all around the world.
Posted by: cris | December 28, 2007 1:49 PM
I think the sentiment of "good riddance" applies to the Netscape Browser as it is today, but I confess it had a lot to do with everything I've done the last part of my career. I'm sorry to see it go, if only because it was a brand which fundamentally changed the way I looked at networks, information, and sharing. While I don't care for what it became, I'll always have a soft spot for it... even Netscape Gold :)
Posted by: kev | December 28, 2007 2:01 PM
Kev, especially Netscape Gold :D
Posted by: Asa Dotzler | December 28, 2007 2:04 PM
cris, the thing is Netscape, as a brand, as an innovative player in the web ecosystem, as a relevant software maker has been dead for years now. AOL decided to give it a very long sadistic death and I am, as well, happy to see it go.
If you actually read Ryan's article, the security gain is that Netscape tended to lag on security updates sometimes months after Firefox had been updated.
Posted by: Percy | December 28, 2007 2:55 PM
Of course, Mozilla still makes most of its money from advertising revenue, driving traffic to Google instead of AOL. They just do it in a more user friendly way.
Posted by: stu42j | December 28, 2007 2:57 PM
It's a shame what AOL did to Netscape, they destroyed the product (that I think is basically what Asa is saying), it could have been a viable alternative to IE for AOL customers, even if it were just a re-branded version Firefox. But AOL never backed it's own browser, strangely given the bucks they paid to buy Netscape - but I guess that deal was more about the net-properties.
AOL's browser is still a re-branded version of IE, named AOL explorer. It's a real pity that AOL didn't chose a Mozilla based browser. Today's news makes me believe they never will.
Posted by: Otto de Voogd | December 28, 2007 3:07 PM
stu42j, there's a huge difference. We were motivated to make a great browser and in so doing created a product that millions of people wanted to use and that's turned into a revenue opportunity. AOL was motivated to make money from the browser by driving traffic to its advertisements and in so doing created a product that no one wanted to use.
We built features that were great and people loved used a lot and later found they were useful for generating revenue. AOL built featured explicitly to generate revenue even and almost always at the expense of the user and so ended up with a product that no one wanted to use and therefor didn't generate much revenue.
- A
Posted by: Asa Dotzler | December 28, 2007 3:33 PM
I'd actually say that doing it in a "more user friendly way" is the key difference as far as the end-user is concerned. Advertising isn't intrinsically a problem. Advertising that's deceptive or intrusive is. The Mozilla folks have, from the beginning, been good at staying on the right side of that line. A search box on the toolbar is useful. A bunch of bookmarks going places you're not interested in aren't. A simple, fast-loading homepage that includes a search box is unobtrusive. A homepage that includes pop-up ads isn't.
Motivation will lead an organization in one way or the other -- but so can research.
I posted some thoughts of my own on the matter of Netscape's fate, from a long-term end-user/beta-tester perspective.
Posted by: Kelson | December 28, 2007 4:13 PM
In response to update3: Ryan Naraine is talking about Netscape 8 and ignores Netscape 9 (although he's probably not the only one who has ignored it), which is basically a slightly extended Firefox with a different preferences screen and default theme, and therefore no security monstrosity like Netscape 8 was.
I have a question that I hope Asa would answer. More than one reaction on Slashdot expresses the hope that the Netscape brand will somehow end up with the Mozilla Foundation. I'd like to second that wish. I can understand that those directly involved have less than favourable associations with the name Netscape now, but I am certain that there is an large group of people, to which I belong as well, who would like to see that happen. It might provide an opportunity to rehabilitate the Netscape name. AOL has not managed to kill its magic completely. Is there any chance anything like this might happen?
Posted by: fondacio | December 28, 2007 7:40 PM
What surprised me most about this is the fact so many people on that page are suddenly making an uproar over AOL discontinuing an adware-infested version of Firefox.
It's not Netscape. If they want that they should be using whatever-it's-called suite with the blue blob icon. The brand name itself is practically worthless now.
Posted by: ant | December 28, 2007 7:50 PM
It's a bit rich to throw too much flack at Netscape since essentially, like Opera, they just lacked the ability to de-focus their revenue model like Firefox has done. Let's not pretend for one minute that Firefox would be what it is today without Google who essentially bankroll the whole Mozilla project with a few exceptions.
Firefox and Mozilla zealots do tend to hide behind the default marketing spin that they are completely open source as in 100% volunteer driven, without commercial conflicts of interest. This is not completely true. Google pulls out - or simply decides to build it's own GoogleFox - and Firefox is in huge trouble.
To criticise Netscape for over-commercialising their browser is to ignore the reality that no popular browser has ever existed without someone paying the phat cashola.
Posted by: pd | December 28, 2007 9:08 PM
@pd: You are aware that there's a difference between commercializing and over-commercializing, right? And that people are criticizing it for the latter, and not for the former?
Posted by: Kelson | December 28, 2007 10:44 PM
pd, you're wrong about the "GoogleFox" idea. That's like saying Debian should be afraid Ubuntu is going to drive them into irrelevance. Ubuntu is down-stream of Debian and Ubuntu will always need Debian's community to be strong because it's the root of their tree.
In the same way, Google would fail if they ever tried to fork Firefox with this imaginary derivative, "GoogleFox" and thereby snatch away Mozilla's center of gravity. That won't happen.
Also, I don't particularly care about Firefox living up to the "Open Source" definition because to me, Firefox is free software.
Posted by: Paul | December 29, 2007 4:31 PM
Anyone know if Netscape internet service was just AOL in disguise? and oh yeah, I remember having to make Firefox look like Netscape so my mom would use firefox. :P
Posted by: a | December 30, 2007 9:18 AM
pd, Firefox is 100% open source - the contributors of the source are irrelevant to this fact.
I dispute that Firefox would be in "huge trouble" if Google pulled their ad revenue - Firefox has reached a sufficient popularity level that it could continue to improve noticeably over time without advertisement funding from Google.
The same may not be said for the Mozilla Corporation (staff tend to want payment), but Firefox itself wouldn't be "in trouble", thanks to being open source, and thanks to there being many paid contributors from many other organisations. This is all academic anyway, because I suspect that Google wouldn't be offering a $1 per Firefox download affiliate scheme if they intended to create their own browser.
Posted by: Ben Basson | December 31, 2007 6:11 AM
firefox is great, but it will never be what netscape was to me.
b*ll*cks to aol, but so it goes. i still have netscape 4.7 up my computer’s sleeve. rock on!
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Posted by: Jessica | January 29, 2008 7:44 AM
Ever since Netscape 8 I've been wondering why anyone would possibly use it. It was basically Firefox with an ugly theme and a bunch of clutter. I guess I wasn't the only one who thought so. I wonder now if their e-mail client is toast too. It's still in beta.