Which browser suite replaced Netscape Navigator as Netscape's main product in 1997?

Netscape Communicator replaced Netscape Navigator as Netscape’s main product suite in 1997.

The change reflected an important distinction: Navigator was the web-browser component, while Communicator was a broader internet suite. Netscape Communicator bundled Navigator with email and newsgroups, an address book, and Netscape Composer, an HTML authoring tool. Netscape promoted the suite as Netscape 4.

The rebranding followed several preview releases in 1996 and 1997, with the final Communicator release arriving in June 1997. Netscape hoped the wider collection of communication and productivity tools would appeal especially to business and enterprise users. In everyday speech, however, people often continued calling the whole product “Netscape” or “Navigator,” which created lasting terminology confusion.

Communicator’s aging code later became difficult to maintain. Netscape opened much of its code and helped launch the Mozilla project in 1998. The eventual Netscape 6 successor was based on a rewritten Mozilla codebase, while the community-maintained SeaMonkey suite continued the broader suite tradition.