Netscape, a pioneer of the Internet, will cease to exist as an
independent company with its buyout by America Online. The following are some highlights of Netscape's history.
| Apr 1994 | Company founded by Jim Clark, a Ph.D. who previously was chairman of Silicon Graphics; and Marc Andreessen, who helped create the Mosaic browser for the Internet while he was an undergraduate at the University of Illinois. Financial backers include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers |
| Dec 1994 | Netscape Navigator browser, Netscape Commerce and Communications servers ship |
| Jan 1995 | Jim Barksdale, former chief executive of AT&T Wireless Services, joins Netscape as CEO |
| May 1995 | Netscape licenses Sun's Java programming language |
| Aug 1995 | Netscape announces initial public offering of 5 million shares of stock |
| Sept 1995 | Netscape buys Collabra Software |
| Feb 1996 | Netscape ships Navigator 2.0 |
| March 1996 | Netscape announces SuiteSpot and FastTrack Server products |
| June 1996 | Navigator surpasses 38 million users |
| Aug 1996 | Netscape forms Navio Communications, focusing on Internet and non-PC devices |
| Oct 1996 | Netscape posts quarterly revenues of $100 million for the third quarter; files for secondary offering of 5 million shares |
| Nov 1996 | Netscape shows Constellation, a component of Communicator, at Comdex |
| Apr 1997 | Netcaster launched as another component of Communicator |
| May 1997 | Navio merges with Oracle's Network Computer |
| Oct 1997 | America Online and Netscape announce plans to launch Netscape's AOL Instant Messenger |
| Nov 1997 | Netscape buys Kiva Software |
| Jan 1998 |
Netscape posts a net loss for the quarter ended December 31
and cuts 300 jobs, its first layoffs
Under pressure from the growth of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Netscape announces that the Communicator product and its source code will be offered free. It focuses on two businesses: the Internet and enterprise software |
| Feb 1998 | Membership in Netcenter surpasses 3 million |
| March 1998 | Barksdale testifies about Microsoft's market dominance in hearings on Capitol Hill |
| May 1998 | Netscape and Excite announce Internet partnership |
| Nov 1998 | Netscape is bought by America Online for $4.2 billion in stock, ending the company's independent existence |
| Source: Netscape and staff research | |
