Us internet old-timers remember when Netscape was the hip new browser. Slightly less old remember when it got beat down by Internet Explorer. As time wore on, Netscape became less and less relevant (save for helping start Mozilla). The browser lost its way and version 8 never even made it to Mac OS X.
Netscape 9 has, but like versions 6 and 7, it’s simply a rebranding of a Mozilla product. The earlier versions were based on the internet suite while this latest version is basically Firefox with a different skin and a preinstalled add-on (Weatherbug). If you’re one of those that have a soft spot for the name, it’s worth a download. I think the rest of us will just keep using Safari, OmniWeb, Camino, Firefox, or Opera.
To celebrate the release, AOL laid off 2000 employees.
