Definition: Netscape Navigator

An earlier Web browser for Windows, Mac and X Windows from Netscape Communications Corporation that provided secure transmission over the Internet. Soon after its introduction in 1994, Navigator, or just plain "Netscape," as it was commonly called, quickly became the leading browser on the Web. As of Version 6.0, the Navigator name was dropped, and February 1, 2008 was its last update.

Initially a paid product, Netscape was forced to give Navigator away after Microsoft launched its Internet Explorer (IE) browser as a free program. Soon after, Microsoft integrated IE into the Windows 98, and it quickly became the primary Web browser.

Website Ratings and Integrated Toolbars
In 2005, Netscape 8.0 was introduced for Windows with a website rating system that warned users of suspicious sites. For trustworthy sites, it rendered pages using Internet Explorer technology, but for dubious sites, pages were displayed in Gecko, the rendering engine used in Firefox.

Version 8.0 integrated toolbar buttons for weather, movies, stocks and other information, and a Webmail button could be configured to go to the user's Web-based email accounts. It also let family members have their own and settings. See Netscape.

Netscape Navigator

The Navigator Web browser was part of Netscape's Communicator package, which included a variety of additional Internet utilities. (Web page courtesy of Pyramid Studios.)