 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2007) |
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| Developer(s) | Netscape Communications Corporation |
|---|---|
| Initial release | June 1997 |
| Final release | |
| Platform | Cross-platform |
| Successor | Netscape 6 |
| Type | Internet suite |
| Website | archive.netscape.com at the Wayback Machine (archived June 21, 2011) |
Netscape Communicator (or Netscape 4) is a discontinued Internet suite produced by Netscape Communications Corporation, and was the fourth major release in the Netscape line of browsers. It was first in beta in 1996 and was released in June 1997.[4][5] Netscape Communicator addressed the problem of Netscape Navigator 3.x being used as both the name of the suite and the browser contained within it by renaming the suite to Netscape Communicator.[6] It included more groupware features intended to appeal to enterprises.
In February 1998, Netscape announced that Mozilla.org would co-ordinate the development of Netscape Communicator 5 as "a dedicated team within Netscape with an associated Web site that will promote, foster and guide open dialog and development of Netscape's client source code."[7] However, the aging Communicator code proved to be difficult to work with, so it was abandoned. The whole source code of Communicator was re-written by Mozilla, who were then testing it as Mozilla Application Suite. Netscape, now owned by AOL, finally released Communicator's successor Netscape 6 in November 2000, based on Mozilla Application Suite with changes and additions. Minor updates to Communicator continued to be issued, culminating in the release of Netscape Communicator 4.8 in August 2002.
- ^ "Netscape Browser Archive - Communicator - SillyDog701". Archived from the original on 28 June 2023.
- ^ "Netscape Lifecycle (EOL)".
- ^ "Communicator 4.8 Release Notes". 22 August 2002. Archived from the original on 4 October 2002. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
- ^ "Netscape Ships its Most Advanced Client Software Suite for Macintosh: Netscape Communicator 4.01 for the Mac Now Available for Download". Netscape.com. 1997-06-27. Archived from the original on October 22, 1997. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
- ^ "Netscape Announces Availability of Netscape SuiteSpot 3.0 and Netscape Communicator: First Delivery for Enterprise Developers at Netscape's Internet DevCon; Product Available Online to Millions of Users Worldwide". Netscape.com. Tokyo and Mountain View. 1997-06-04. Archived from the original on October 22, 1997. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
- ^ "Netscape Communicator 4.0 Available". Information Technology services. The University of Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 2015-03-18. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
- ^ "Netscape Announces Mozilla.org, a Dedicated Team and Web Site Supporting Development of Free Client Source Code". Netscape.com. 1998-02-23. Archived from the original on July 6, 1998.