By Xinhua
Beijing : AOL announced in its blog post to shutter support for Netscape Navigator from Feb. 1 and recommended the Netscape users to make the move to Firefox, media reported Saturday.
Netscape would still be available for download from the Netscape Archive after Feb. 1, but no “active product support” will be offered.
The decision came after Netscape Navigator, once the dominant Web browser, failed in the battle against 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,” Said Tom Drapeau, director of AOL/Netscape development.
AOL has been battling rivals like Microsoft and Google in an effort to establish itself in the ad-supported Web business, so resources for Netscape are limited, Drapeau said.
But Drapeau denied the “Netscape is dead” proclamation because Netscape.com would remain as a general use Internet portal.
Netscape Navigator was launched in 1994, and AOL acquired Netscape Communications Corp. five years later.