Netscape 7
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Netscape 7.2 under Windows
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| Developer(s) | AOL |
|---|---|
| Initial release | August 29, 2002 |
| Last release |
7.2 / August 17, 2004
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| Written in | ? |
| Operating system | Cross-platform |
| Type | Internet suite |
| Website | archive.netscape.com |
Netscape 7 is a discontinued Internet suite developed by Netscape Communications Corporation, and was the seventh major release of the Netscape series of browsers. It is the successor of Netscape 6, and was developed in-house by AOL. It was released on August 29, 2002 and is based on Mozilla Application Suite 1.0.
The browser in Netscape 7 was originally superseded by Netscape Browser (version 8) in 2005, which like its name suggests was simply a web browser and not a full Internet suite. Netscape 7's Mail & Newsgroups client was succeeded by Netscape Messenger 9 in 2007.
As of version 7.2, it consisted of the following major components:
Netscape 7.0 was released in 2002. It was based on a more stable and notably faster Mozilla 1.0 core and bundled with extras like integrated AOL Instant Messenger, integrated ICQ, Radio@Netscape, and new features such as tabbed browsing [1]. The market responded to what was essentially a repackaged version of Mozilla Application Suite (swollen with integrated tools to access proprietary services owned by AOL) by ignoring it. Competition from mature and competent non-Microsoft alternatives such as the Opera browser and the regular Mozilla distribution was a major factor. A point release of version 7.1 (based on Mozilla 1.4) was similarly ignored.
AOL announced on July 15, 2003 that it was laying off all its remaining development staff working on the Netscape version of Mozilla. Combined with AOL's antitrust case court settlement with Microsoft to use Internet Explorer in future versions of the AOL software, this seemed to mark the effective end of development on Netscape Navigator, the open source projects notwithstanding. Many believed that no further versions of the browser would be released and that the Netscape brand name would live on only as the name of AOL's low-cost dial-up internet service.
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