Netscape Navigator

The browser that invented the commercial web, launched the dot-com boom with its IPO, and lost everything to a free browser bundled with Windows.

† 1994 – 2008Killed by competition Died in 2008

Born

1994

Died

2008

Lifespan

14 years

Cause of Death

Killed by competition

What Happened

Netscape Navigator launched on December 15, 1994, built by a team led by Marc Andreessen — the same engineer who had co-created Mosaic, the browser that first made the web visually usable. Navigator was faster, better, and for most people it simply was the internet. At its peak it held over 80% browser market share.

Netscape's 1995 IPO — valuing an unprofitable company at $2.9B on its first day — is widely considered the starting gun of the dot-com era. Andreessen appeared on the cover of Time magazine sitting barefoot on a throne. The modern internet economy was directly downstream of that single IPO.

Then Microsoft bundled Internet Explorer with Windows 95 for free. Netscape was charging for its browser. The outcome was inevitable. The subsequent 'browser wars' triggered the landmark US v. Microsoft antitrust case, but by the time the ruling came down, Netscape had already lost. AOL acquired it in 1999 for $4.2B in stock, mostly to get at its user base.

On December 28, 2007, AOL announced it would end support for Netscape Navigator on March 1, 2008 — citing the dominance of Internet Explorer and Firefox. The browser that invented the commercial web ended with a whisper. Its legacy lives on through Mozilla, the open source offshoot that became Firefox.

“While internal groups within AOL have invested a great deal of time and energy in attempting to revive Netscape Navigator, these efforts have not been successful in gaining market share from Microsoft's Internet Explorer.”

— Tom Drapeau, AOL Netscape Blog, December 2007

Last Words — Official Shutdown Notice

“AOL's focus on transitioning to an ad-supported web business leaves little room for the size of investment needed to get the Netscape browser to a point where it can compete with the current generation of browsers.”