PC Novice Netscape Navigator

This is the 3rd issue in my series. Who remembers Netscape Navigator? This issue talked about all the things you could with the Navigator.

  Netscape Navigator was a proprietary web browser. It was the flagship product of the Netscape Communications Corp and was the dominant web browser in terms of usage share in the 1990s, although by 2002 its usage had almost disappeared. This was primarily due to the increased usage of Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser software, and partly because the Netscape Corporation (later purchased by AOL) did not sustain Netscape Navigator's technical innovation after the late 1990s.

The business demise of Netscape was a central premise of Microsoft's antitrust trial, wherein the Court ruled that Microsoft Corporation'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 Netscape Communicator. Netscape Communicator's 4.x source code was the base for the Netscape-developed Mozilla Application Suite, which was later renamed SeaMonkey. Netscape's Mozilla Suite also served as the base for a browser-only spinoff called Mozilla Firefox and Netscape versions 6 through 9.

AOL stopped development of Netscape Navigator on 28 December 2007, but continued supporting the web browser with security updates until 1 March 2008. AOL allows downloading of archived versions of the Netscape Navigator web browser family. AOL maintains the Netscape website as an Internet portal.

But now in 2014 a new version of Netscape Navigator is available. Here is a review courtesy of Softpedia.

Netscape Navigator is no longer a valid web browser as its development stopped back in 2007 and all support was discontinued at the beginning of 2008.

Netscape Navigator is a web browserundefined built on the Mozilla platform. So, if you're on the hunt for new ways to navigate on the Internet, why not try something inspired by the best in the business?

The installation process takes little time to complete, and there are no extraordinary features to it, so, you can safely initiate the Navigator afterward.

The user interface looks extremely familiar - same search bar on the upper right corner, same add-ons, same Options interface... maybe Netscape has borrowed one too many elements from Firefox, but at least it has its well-known colors (which take after ESET Nod32 a little).

Features found in Netscape Navigator include an improved newsfeed support and methods of discussion, submission, the possibility to vote web pages, multi profile support, extensive security center, one-click searching from the address bar, Click-to-Seach, tabbed browsing, and others.

The default search engine is AOL's, but you can easily change that. Time it takes Netcape Navigator to load a page is fast, but not faster than in the case of its "mentor", and it gets stuck or crashes, in some rare occasions.

In addition, memory resources are significantly used, even when there's only a single web page opened, with text content.

Unfortunately, support for Netscape browsers was discontinued a while back, so the Navigator recommends you use Flock or Firefox.

Nevertheless, Netscape Navigator proves to be a pretty good alternative to other weaker web browsers, and it definitely deserves a fair trial. It's free, after all.

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