AOL is about to shut down the Netscape browser, which it acquired in 1998 for USD4.2bn, encouraging users to switch to Mozilla's Firefox instead. The closure will take place on Feb 1 and reflects the browser's inability to compete with Firefox and Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Netscape, which once claimed more than 90% of the browser market, now accounts for only 0.6%, compared to 77% for Internet and 16% for Firefox, according to PC World. Only a handful of AOL engineers have been working on maintaining the browser recently, reports TechCrunch. The internet giant's decision to shift its focus onto ad-supported services leaves little room for the investment needed to keep the browser running, Tom Drapeau, director of AOL/Netscape development, says on the company's blog.

Netscape was created by Marc Andreessen and Silicon Graphics founder Jim Clark in 1994. It spun off the open-source foundation Mozilla in 1998. The latter subsequently developed Firefox, which is based on Netscape's technology and brought in nearly USD70m in revenues in 2006.