Since the official release of Netscape Communicator 4.0 in June of 1997 (believe it or not the first preview release of Communicator became available back in December of 1996!), there have been several minor updates to the suite and one update (v4.5) that would qualify as a mid-major update. These interim updates have added a variety of essential new features to the Net suite.
The most recent release, Communicator 4.7, adds the following new features:
· Integrated Winamp Lite MP3 Player, · Shop@Netscape toolbar button (access to Netscape Online Shopping), · Access to new Netscape Radio service, · Updated Shockwave 7 and Flash 4 components, · Updated RealPlayer G2 client, · Updated AOL Instant Messenger 3.0 client, · Tested and certified as being Y2K-compliant
Versions prior to v4.7 included a variety of important additions to Communicator:
· Smart Browsing auto-completion and "Internet Keywords" features, · Smart Browsing "What's Related" (drop-down toolbar of similar sites), · Integrated RealPlayer G2 audio/video streaming player, · Integrated AOL Instant Messenger 2.0 chat tool, · Integrated Macromedia Flash plug-in, · 3-pane integrated mail/news interface for Messenger/Newsgroups, · Roaming access support, · "My Netscape" toolbar button and associated Internet portal site, · NetWatch content filter (with PICS support), · New 56-bit DES ciphers for both domestic and export releases), · Improved IMAP performance and network efficiency, · Support for multiple mail accounts (only with IMAP servers), and · Mail/address book import capabilities
