R.I.P. Netscape Navigator

Netscape Navigator will finally be laid to rest next month.

Final double-click on Navigator
Netscape Navigator, the storied Web browser that launched an Internet boom but is now a mere shell of its former self, will soon be put out of its misery.

Now under the umbrella of Time Warner's AOL, Netscape will continue as a portal, but AOL said it will no longer engage in further development or even technical support for the browser beginning Feb. 1.

For most of us, Netscape Navigator is a distant memory, long abandoned for IE and Firefox--itself a project that originated at Netscape. But I still remember the first OMG moment when I tried it out for the first time.

1995 at the Mercer Library in Macon, down from the Atlanta campus for a staff development day. They had installed Netscape on the computers and everyone else was working in pairs, but I was lucky enough to be on my own. I got to Yahoo and wandered around the directory, and found the Star Wars websites. Spent the rest of the time clicking through the pages and being so amazed that this was out there.