Netscape 6
Encyclopedia
Netscape 6 was the name of Netscape Communications Corporation's proprietary
cross-platform
internet suite
from versions 6.0–6.2.3. It superseded Netscape Communicator 4.8
(as the release of Netscape Communicator 5 was scrapped) and was replaced by the simply-named Netscape
. Netscape 6, and later Netscape 7, were based on the Mozilla Application Suite
, an open-source software package which at that time was simply known as Mozilla
.
It consisted of the following major components:
. It was estimated that turning the gutted source code
(all proprietary elements had to be removed) into a new browser release might take a year, and so it was decided that the next release of the corporate Netscape browser, version 5.0, would be based on it. Netscape assigned its browser development engineers to help with the project.
Later that year it was quite evident that development on Mozilla was not proceeding quickly, so Netscape reassigned some of its engineers to a new Communicator 4.5 release. This had the result of redirecting part of the browser effort into a dead-end branch while Internet Explorer 5.0 was still building momentum.
The version 5 of the browser was skipped, at the time when Internet Explorer 5.0
had been available for a year and a half. There were plans to release an almost-ready version 5.0 based on the 4.x codebase, but this idea was scrapped. The Mozilla engineers decided to scrap the Communicator code and start over from scratch. All resources were bound to work on the Mozilla-based Netscape 6.0 release, which some Netscape employees still deem one of the bigger mistakes in the company's history.
The first public builds of Mozilla two years later were rather disappointing, with many mid-level PCs too slow to run the bloated browser (which used its own custom set of graphical user interface
widgets
and had a customizable UI built in a custom XML
dialect known as XUL
).
Versions 6.1 and 6.2, released in 2001, addressed some stability problems and were more respected, but still had a relatively small number of users and was facing new competition from Internet Explorer 6.0
, released in the summer of 2001.
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
cross-platform
Cross-platform
In computing, cross-platform, or multi-platform, is an attribute conferred to computer software or computing methods and concepts that are implemented and inter-operate on multiple computer platforms...
internet suite
Internet suite
An Internet suite is an Internet-related software suite. Internet suites usually include a web browser, e-mail client , download manager, HTML editor, and an IRC client....
from versions 6.0–6.2.3. It superseded Netscape Communicator 4.8
Netscape Communicator
Netscape Communicator was an Internet suite produced by Netscape Communications Corporation. Initially released in June 1997, Netscape Communicator 4.0 was the successor to Netscape Navigator 3.x and included more groupware features intended to appeal to enterprises.- Editions :Netscape...
(as the release of Netscape Communicator 5 was scrapped) and was replaced by the simply-named Netscape
Netscape (web browser)
Netscape 7 was a series of proprietary cross-platform Internet suites created by Netscape Communications Corporation and then in-house by AOL to continue the Netscape series after Netscape 6. There were three main editions released from the Netscape 7 series; being Netscape 7.0, 7.1 and 7.2...
. Netscape 6, and later Netscape 7, were based on the Mozilla Application Suite
Mozilla Application Suite
The Mozilla Application Suite is a cross-platform integrated Internet suite. Its development was initiated by Netscape Communications Corporation, before their acquisition by AOL. It is based on the source code of Netscape Communicator...
, an open-source software package which at that time was simply known as Mozilla
Mozilla
Mozilla is a term used in a number of ways in relation to the Mozilla.org project and the Mozilla Foundation, their defunct commercial predecessor Netscape Communications Corporation, and their related application software....
.
It consisted of the following major components:
- a web browserWeb browserA web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
- an e-mailE-mail clientAn email client, email reader, or more formally mail user agent , is a computer program used to manage a user's email.The term can refer to any system capable of accessing the user's email mailbox, regardless of it being a mail user agent, a relaying server, or a human typing on a terminal...
and news clientNews clientA newsreader is an application program that reads articles on Usenet . Newsreaders act as clients which connect to a news server, via the Network News Transfer Protocol , to download articles and post new articles...
, Netscape Mail & NewsgroupsNetscape Mail & NewsgroupsNetscape Mail and Newsgroups, commonly known as just Netscape Mail, was an email and news client produced by Netscape Communications Corporation as part of the Netscape series of suites between versions 4.5 to 7.2... - an address bookAddress bookAn address book or a name and address book is a book or a database used for storing entries called contacts. Each contact entry usually consists of a few standard fields...
- an HTML editorHTML editorAn HTML editor is a software application for creating web pages. Although the HTML markup of a web page can be written with any text editor, specialized HTML editors can offer convenience and added functionality. For example, many HTML editors work not only with HTML, but also with related...
, Netscape ComposerNetscape ComposerNetscape Composer is a WYSIWYG HTML editor initially developed by Netscape Communications Corporation in 1997, and packaged as part of the Netscape Communicator, Netscape 6 and Netscape 7 range of Internet suites... - an instant messagingInstant messagingInstant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet...
client, AOL Instant MessengerAOL Instant MessengerAOL Instant Messenger is an instant messaging and presence computer program which uses the proprietary OSCAR instant messaging protocol and the TOC protocol to allow registered users to communicate in real time. It was released by AOL in May 1997...
History and development
In March 1998, Netscape split off most of the Communicator code and put it under an open source license. The project was dubbed MozillaMozilla
Mozilla is a term used in a number of ways in relation to the Mozilla.org project and the Mozilla Foundation, their defunct commercial predecessor Netscape Communications Corporation, and their related application software....
. It was estimated that turning the gutted source code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
(all proprietary elements had to be removed) into a new browser release might take a year, and so it was decided that the next release of the corporate Netscape browser, version 5.0, would be based on it. Netscape assigned its browser development engineers to help with the project.
Later that year it was quite evident that development on Mozilla was not proceeding quickly, so Netscape reassigned some of its engineers to a new Communicator 4.5 release. This had the result of redirecting part of the browser effort into a dead-end branch while Internet Explorer 5.0 was still building momentum.
The version 5 of the browser was skipped, at the time when Internet Explorer 5.0
Internet Explorer 5
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 was a graphical web browser released in March 1999 by Microsoft, primarily for Microsoft Windows, but initially with versions available for Apple Macintosh, Sun Solaris, and HP-UX. It was one of the main participants of the first browser war...
had been available for a year and a half. There were plans to release an almost-ready version 5.0 based on the 4.x codebase, but this idea was scrapped. The Mozilla engineers decided to scrap the Communicator code and start over from scratch. All resources were bound to work on the Mozilla-based Netscape 6.0 release, which some Netscape employees still deem one of the bigger mistakes in the company's history.
The first public builds of Mozilla two years later were rather disappointing, with many mid-level PCs too slow to run the bloated browser (which used its own custom set of graphical user interface
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
widgets
Web widget
In computing a web widget is a software widget for the web. It's a small application that can be installed and executed within a web page by an end user. They are derived from the idea of code reuse. Other terms used to describe web widgets include: portlet, gadget, badge, module, webjit, capsule,...
and had a customizable UI built in a custom XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
dialect known as XUL
XUL
In computer programming, XUL , the XML User Interface Language, is an XML user interface markup language developed by the Mozilla project. XUL operates in Mozilla cross-platform applications such as Firefox...
).
Versions 6.1 and 6.2, released in 2001, addressed some stability problems and were more respected, but still had a relatively small number of users and was facing new competition from Internet Explorer 6.0
Internet Explorer 6
Internet Explorer 6 is the sixth major revision of Internet Explorer, a web browser developed by Microsoft for Windows operating systems...
, released in the summer of 2001.
Release history
- Netscape 6.0 – November 14, 2000 (based on Mozilla 0.6)
- Netscape 6.01 – February 9, 2001(based on Mozilla 0.6)
- Netscape 6.1 – August 8, 2001 (based on Mozilla 0.9.2.1)
- Netscape 6.2 – October 30, 2001 (based on Mozilla 0.9.4.1)
- Netscape 6.2.1 – November 29, 2001 (based on Mozilla 0.9.4.1)
- Netscape 6.2.2 – March 19, 2002 (based on Mozilla 0.9.4.1)
- Netscape 6.2.3 – May 15, 2002 (based on Mozilla 0.9.4.1)