Broadly, Mozilla is a programming tool for building applications that run on almost any operating system. Though developers initially concentrated on building a browser, the underlying technology can be used to create many types of applications. Some developers have already branched out to make Mozilla into instant messaging software, media players and other applications. Netscape created the Mozilla open-source project in 1998, when it opened up its source code. At the time, then-independent Netscape charged the open-source project with creating a compelling Web-browsing technology to compete with Microsoft's growing dominance with Internet Explorer. After nearly three years, Netscape released Netscape 6.0 in November 2000 as the first browser based on Mozilla code, with some criticism. The release was largely judged to have been premature. AOL Time Warner has even tested Mozilla technology in versions of AOL and other software. In late May, Netscape introduced a test version of its newest browser, Netscape 7.0, based on the same code as Mozilla 1.0. The full release is expected in coming months. The Mountain View, California-based company updated its browser for speed and ease of use between multiple activities such as Web browsing, search, chat and email. The browser uses novel features from Mozilla, including "tabbed browsing," which lets people open several pages within one window and click between pages similar to a filing system. Web surfers can bookmark chains of pages together. Chimera, a Mozilla-based browser for the Mac, also includes the anti-pop-up feature. A representative of Mozilla could not say how popular the browser or the anti-pop-up feature is. But Mozilla and Netscape take up only a fraction of the browser market, according to researchers. Netscape users around the world comprise less than 5 percent of the market, according to WebSideStory's StatMarket, versus between 94 percent and 95 percent for Microsoft's Internet Explorer. StatMarket estimates Mozilla use to be less than 1 percent. Another researcher, Amsterdam, Netherlands-based OneStat, reported in June that use for Mozilla 1.0 comprised 0.04 percent of the global population. When asked why the feature isn't offered in Netscape 7.0, Mozilla spokesman Derrick Meins said that it's like "comparing apples to oranges." "Netscape is a very different product, designed for a mass market consumer audience," Meins said. "Mozilla is for developers -- different products, target audiences and needs." In addition, Mozilla does not combine all the features of Netscape 7.0 such as AOL Instant Messenger and Radio@Netscape, a new service on the Netscape toolbar that lets people play music from specialised radio stations. Such applications force Mozilla 1.0 users like Russell, the Web editor, to also use Netscape 7.0, even though he loves the anti-pop-up feature. "I was hoping and hoping and hoping that the next version of Netscape would include that feature, but those pop-up ads are exactly what they don't want you to be able to block," he said.
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