Final double-click on Navigator

December 31, 2007 Netscape was purchased in 1999 for about $10 billion by AOL, though that was after Microsoft had launched its Internet Explorer browser that it was bundling for free with its Windows software, a strategy that led to Netscape's downfall. "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," Netscape director Tom Drapeau wrote in a blog entry Friday. "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 many of its fans expect it to be," Drapeau wrote Friday.

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