The Netscape Navigator browser, now owned by AOL, will no longer be supported after 1 March, the company has said.

For much of the Nineties it was the window to the web for millions. At one stage more than 90 per cent of surfers used Netscape.

However, its market share slipped dramatically as surfers have moved on to other browsers like Internet Explorer and Firefox. It now has less than one per cent of the browser market.

AOL recommends that surfers upgrade to either Firefox or Flock, which are both built on the same underlying technologies as Navigator.

Netscape was first launched in 1994 by Marc Andreessen. As a student he co-authored Mosaic, the first popular web browser.

"Netscape had a critical role in taking all of these zeros and ones - this very academic and technical environment - and giving it a graphical user interface where an average person could come online and consume information," said Shawn Hardin, president of Flock.

Other browsers capitalised on Netscape's success, especially Internet Explorer which now dominates with 80 per cent market share.

Was Netscape the first browser you used to get online? Do you still use it? Let us know at www.webuser.co.uk/forums.

www.flock.com
www.firefox.com
www.browser.netscape.com
www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/ie/default.mspx

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