In a quiet bit of computing history, at the end of 2007 the pioneer Internet browser software, Netscape Navigator, was unplugged from life support by its current owner AOL / TimesWarner, and will slowly drift away from common usage.

Good night, sweet prince ... and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest (Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act V).

Early Internet users will tell you that Navigator was the dominant tool in the 1990's and only surpassed in 1998 when Microsoft not only packaged their Internet Explorer browser with all versions of the Windows operating system, but even hard coded the bugger so you were unable to get rid of it off of your desktop ... something for which they were sued and eventually relented by allowing users to choose their preferred browser. Nonetheless, MS' IE remains the dominant browser as of the end of 2007 with 82% of world market, followed by the open source browser Firefox (www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/) with 13.5% of world share.

Netscape was formed in the early 1990's by the legendary Marc Andreessen, and the Navigator browser was made available for Microsoft, Linux, Apple and Unix operating systems. Originally, the software was available for free download with users asked to pay for it only if they were satisfied with its performance. Eventually, Netscape just relented and made it a freeware program available to anyone. This open source and no cost spirit are indicative of the early days of the Internet and in many respects still drive the market today.

In fact, "Mozilla" was the code name given to the original test version of Navigator and became the brand name of the methodology used by Navigator to access the Internet. Mozilla eventually became the generic term for all open source browsers.

As a Mac-head in my early computing years, Netscape was like a brother to me. The Navigator browser received its fair share of criticism for failing to keep up with improved features and usability, but its familiar look and feel was at one time almost synonymous with the Internet itself.

Of course, selective memory erases all the pain of early computing and web use … 2400 baud dial-up modems, operating systems that moved at glacier speed, hardware that only the rich could afford, and software that was buggy and clumsy, just to name a few. Sill it was our brave new world and our traveling companions will not soon be forgotten.

I still only rarely use the MS Internet Explorer today. I much prefer Firefox, and take some solace in the fact that most hackers still concentrate primarily on messing with your computer using the Internet Explorer software as a front door. However, I will miss the old Navigator, and mark its passing with fond nostalgia.

Want to hang out with other tech and Internet users? It’s easy. Just join and become active in the Redwood Technology Consortium. Their monthly meetings are free and open to the public. Just check out the RTC website for dates, times and places.

Crawford is president of Justice Served, a court management and technology consulting firm working with courts and justice agencies worldwide. He is an active member of the Redwood Technology Consortium. This column is a modified version of a blog entry on www.TSBlogs.com under North Coast Connections.