released the final version of Netscape Communicator in June 1997. Īfter releasing five preview releases from 1996 to 1997, Netscape Corp. Netscape 4 addressed the problem of Netscape Navigator being used as both the name of the suite and the browser contained within it by renaming the suite to Netscape Communicator. Netscape Communicator (versions 4.5–4.8) Netscape Navigator 3 was the undisputed web browser giant in its time with over 90% share, but it was later eroded by the free Internet Explorer included with Windows 95. Netscape 3.0 introduced many new features such as new plug-ins, background colors for tables, the archive attribute, and the applet element. Version 3.0 was also available in a 'Gold' version which featured a WYSIWYG HTML editor (later added to Netscape Communicator as a standard feature), and was sold as retail software for profit. Version 3.0 of Netscape was the first to face any serious competition in the form of Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0, but Netscape held off Microsoft's challenge and remained the number one browser for the time. Around the same time, AOL started bundling their software with Microsoft's Internet Explorer. During this period, both the browser and the suite were known as Netscape Navigator. Version 2.0 added a full mail reader called Netscape Mail, thus transforming Netscape from a mere web browser to an Internet suite. Netscape's feature-count and market share continued to grow rapidly after version 1.0 was released. The browser was the most advanced available and was an instant success, becoming market leader while still in beta.

The company's name also changed from Mosaic Communications Corporation to Netscape Communications Corporation. The first version of the browser was released in 1994, known as Mosaic and then Mosaic Netscape until a legal challenge from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (makers of NCSA Mosaic, which many of Netscape's founders had spent time developing) which led to the name change to Netscape Navigator. Netscape Navigator was the name of Netscape's web browser from versions 1.0 through 4.8.

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