Netscape Navigator

This article is about the original Netscape Navigator (versions 1 to 4.08). For the final 2007 release, see Netscape Navigator 9. For a full list of Netscape software releases, see Netscape (web browser).

Netscape Navigator
Developer(s)Netscape
Initial release15 December 1994; 29 years ago (1994-12-15)[1]
Final release9.0.0.6 (February 20, 2008; 16 years ago (2008-02-20)) [±]
TypeWeb browser

Netscape Navigator is a discontinued proprietary web browser, and the original browser of the Netscape line, from versions 1 to 4.08, and 9.x. It was the flagship product of the Netscape Communications Corporation and was the dominant web browser in terms of usage share in the 1990s, but by around 2003 its user base had all but disappeared.[2] This was partly because the Netscape Corporation (later purchased by AOL) did not sustain Netscape Navigator's technical innovation in the late 1990s.[3]

The business demise of Netscape was a central premise of Microsoft's antitrust trial, wherein the Court ruled that Microsoft's bundling of Internet Explorer with the Windows operating system was a monopolistic and illegal business practice. The decision came too late for Netscape, however, as Internet Explorer had by then become the dominant web browser in Windows.

The Netscape Navigator web browser was succeeded by the Netscape Communicator suite in 1997. Netscape Communicator's 4.x source code was the base for the Netscape-developed Mozilla Application Suite, which was later renamed SeaMonkey.[4] Netscape's Mozilla Suite also served as the base for a browser-only spinoff called Mozilla Firefox.

The Netscape Navigator name returned in 2007 when AOL announced version 9 of the Netscape series of browsers, Netscape Navigator 9. On December 28, 2007, AOL canceled its development but continued supporting the web browser with security updates until March 1, 2008. AOL allows downloading of archived versions of the Netscape Navigator web browser family.[5]

  1. ^ "NETSCAPE CEO BARKSDALE'S DEPOSITION IN MICROSOFT SUIT (Text)". Bloomberg.com. October 21, 1998. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  2. ^ "Roads and Crossroads of the Internet History". NetValley.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2015. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
  3. ^ "Netscape's Brief History". Archived from the original on February 16, 2009. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
  4. ^ Clark, Jim (1999). Netscape Time. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312199340.
  5. ^ Tom Drapeau (December 28, 2007). "End of Support for Netscape web browsers". The Netscape Blog. Archived from the original on December 29, 2007. Retrieved December 29, 2007.