Netscape revival attempt
p2pnet.net News:- AOL has restarted Netscape’s development – and it’s basing the ‘new’ version on Firefox.
The company is desperately trying to get itself back into the game with staff cuts and by splitting itself into four different entities but it’s doubtful if Netscape, revived or otherwise, will do much to help it.
However, “a prototype of the new Netscape will debut on November 30 to a limited number of beta testers,” AOL told BetaNews.
“Netscape was last updated in August to version 7.2, which brought the browser up to date with Mozilla 1.7,” says the story. “But for the most part, Netscape has received little attention from AOL since the release of 7.0 in August 2002. The browser’s market share has dropped to single digits as Microsoft’s Internet Explorer reigned supreme.”
Dropped to single digits is right.
Anyway, “Firefox’s surging popularity has breathed new life into Netscape,” says BetaNews. A”lthough AOL could not yet comment on what to expect in the prototype, the revamped browser will likely extend Firefox’s feature set with Netscape-specific extensions and retain Netscape’s traditional green user interface.”
The news is particularly intriguing bearing in mind that more than a year ago, “AOL has cut or will cut the remaining team working on Mozilla in a mass firing and are dismantling what was left of Netscape (they’ve even pulled the logos off the buildings),” said MozillaZine.
“Some will remain working on Mozilla during the transition, and will move to other jobs within AOL.”
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See:-
entities – AOL split in four, p2pnet, November 9, 2004
new Netscape - Netscape Revived With Firefox Backing, BetaNews, November 17, 2004
dismantling – AOL Cuts Remaining Mozilla Hackers, MozillaZine, July 15, 2003
