I was always a Netscape user. Like many others, I converted family members, classmates, friends, anyone who would listen. When the Mozilla project was kicked off, I followed closely, playing with the early Milestones (4!) as I waited for something usable. I've never used IE.
When I read today that AOL had begun the process of leveling the Netscape division, I was sad. Just like many others, I immediately jumped to the worst conclusion possible: this is the end of Mozilla.
As I reflect and read more, I'm positive I was wrong. This can only lead to good things. Mozilla has had plenty of time to become too valuable to other companies in order for them to let it just die off. For instance, the Mozilla browser has become an important app for RedHat, Sun, IBM, and embedded users. I think it's unfortunate that Apple made the choice that it did regarding Safari, as had Gecko been chosen, Apple would have picked up where AOL left off. The flipside of that decision is that the khtml engine seemed to be fine without AOL, so Gecko and Moz should be alright as well.
It's going to be very interesting to see what happens in the browser world over the next few months. With Safari gaining ground, IE being put on ice until the next version of Windows, and Mozilla focusing on marketing their products more we're about to see some competition in the browser market. Now don't get me wrong, I don't think the competition is going to involve money (an issue in itself). However, it will involve making the web a better experience for everyone.
Before I wrap up, I'd like to touch on the money issue. Browsers are free. It will be interesting to see if a "for pay" browser doesn't emerge to compete with Opera. I think the mode of thinking goes like this: 1) IE is not effectivley being improved. 2) Netscape is dead. 3) Do you want a better browsing experience? Buy our browser for a few dollars. Hell, if anyone from Apple is listening, maybe you should consider a cross platform release of Safari with iTunes. One person's trash (IE's user browser marketshare) is another person's treasure.
In any case, for those Netscape developers who might not have known, there are a lot of us who really appreciated the work you did. To the Mozilla developers (and I realize there's some overlap) your products are great, your community thriving, and your energy high. Keep up the good work and your user base will continue to grow and reward you.
Of interest:
AOL Cuts Remaining Mozilla Hackers
ex-mozilla.org
Mozilla.org/Mozilla Foundation
Mozilla Found. Press Release
Anil's got a really cool article on this as well as why Google should invest into it. http://www.dashes.com/anil/index.php?archives/006726.php