Editing Netscape Navigator (section)

{{short description|Web browser by Netscape released in 1994}}
{{About|the original Netscape Navigator (versions 1 to 4.08)|the final 2007 release|Netscape Navigator 9|a full list of Netscape software releases|Netscape (web browser)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox software
| name                   = Netscape Navigator
| screenshot             = Navigator 1-22.png
| caption                = Netscape Navigator 1.22
| logo                   = Netscape icon.svg
| developer              = [[Netscape]]
| programming language = <!--Citation is needed to add this-->
| released               = {{Start date and years ago|df=yes|1994|12|15}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=1998-10-21 |title=NETSCAPE CEO BARKSDALE'S DEPOSITION IN MICROSOFT SUIT (Text) |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/1998-10-21/netscape-ceo-barksdale-s-deposition-in-microsoft-suit-text |access-date=2020-12-12 |website=Bloomberg.com |language=en}}</ref>
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q235419|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| latest release date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q235419|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}
| latest preview version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q235419|P348|P548=Q51930650}}
| latest preview date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q235419|P348|P548=Q51930650|P577}}
| discontinued           = yes
| website                = hide
| genre                  = [[Web browser]]
}}
The 1990s releases of the [[Netscape (web browser)|Netscape]] line referred to as  '''Netscape Navigator''' were a series of now discontinued {{linktext|proprietary}} [[web browser]]s. from versions 1 to 4.08. It was the [[Core product|flagship]] product of the [[Netscape|Netscape Communications Corporation]] and was the dominant web browser in terms of [[Usage share of web browsers|usage share]] in the 1990s, but by around 2003 its user base had all but disappeared.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.netvalley.com/cgi-bin/intval/net_history.pl?chapter=4|title=Roads and Crossroads of the Internet History|website=NetValley.com|access-date=2014-09-08|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206040430/http://www.netvalley.com/cgi-bin/intval/net_history.pl?chapter=4|archive-date=6 February 2015}}</ref> This was partly because of Microsoft's bundling of [[Internet Explorer]] with the [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] [[operating system]].<ref>
{{Cite web|url=http://internet-browser-review.toptenreviews.com/the-first-great-internet-browser-war.html|title=The First Great Internet Browser War|access-date=2014-09-04|first=Kent|last=Dunn|publisher=TopTenReviews|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904214146/http://internet-browser-review.toptenreviews.com/the-first-great-internet-browser-war.html|archive-date=2014-09-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://browser.netscape.com/history|title=Netscape's Brief History|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090216175708/http://browser.netscape.com/history|archive-date=16 February 2009|access-date=16 February 2009}}</ref>

The business demise of Netscape was a central premise of [[United States v. Microsoft Corp.|Microsoft's antitrust trial]], wherein the Court ruled that [[Microsoft]]'s bundling of [[Internet Explorer]] with the [[Microsoft Windows|Windows operating system]] was a [[monopoly|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]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Clark|first=Jim|title=Netscape Time|url=https://archive.org/details/netscapetimemaki00clar|url-access=registration|publisher=St. Martin's Press|year=1999|isbn=9780312199340}}</ref> Netscape's Mozilla Suite also served as the base for a browser-only spinoff called [[Firefox version history|Mozilla Firefox]].

The Netscape Navigator name returned in 2007 when [[AOL]] announced version 9 of the [[Netscape (web browser)|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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://blog.netscape.com/2007/12/28/end-of-support-for-netscape-web-browsers/ |title=End of Support for Netscape web browsers |access-date=29 December 2007 |author=Tom Drapeau |date=28 December 2007 |website=The Netscape Blog |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071229140059/http://blog.netscape.com/2007/12/28/end-of-support-for-netscape-web-browsers/ |archive-date=29 December 2007}}</ref>