He leaves chief technology officer post less than a year after merger with Netscape.

Less than a year after the company he built was acquired by America Online, Marc Andreessen has stepped down as the company_s chief technology officer. The move has left some observers wondering whether the wunderkind who brought the Internet to the masses with Netscape - the maker of the first commercial Web browser - was ever a significant player in AOL or merely a show pony after the $10 billion merger. Andreessen will become a part-time strategic advisor, advising the Dulles, Va.-based online giant on emerging technologies and new investments, splitting his time between working with start-ups and with AOL on technology issues and potential investments. William Raduchel, chief strategist of AOL ally Sun Microsystems, will take Andreessen_s place. What Case didn_t say was that the move also strengthens the ties between the two companies, which formed a strategic alliance as part of the AOL-Netscape merger. Sun_s Java programming language and Jini connectivity tools will very likely form the guts that power future versions of AOL on PCs and handheld Internet appliances.