<P> Netscape Navigator was Netscape's web browser from versions 1.0--4.8 . The first beta versions were released in 1994 and were called Mosaic and later Mosaic Netscape . Then, a legal challenge from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (makers of NCSA Mosaic), which many of Netscape's founders used to develop, led to the name Netscape Navigator . The company's name also changed from Mosaic Communications Corporation to Netscape Communications Corporation . </P> <P> The browser was easily the most advanced available and so was an instant success, becoming a market leader while still in beta . Netscape's feature - count and market share continued to grow rapidly after version 1.0 was released . Version 2.0 added a full email reader called Netscape Mail, thus transforming Netscape from a single - purpose web browser to an Internet suite . The main distinguishing feature of the email client was its ability to display HTML email . During this period, the entire suite was called Netscape Navigator . </P> <P> Version 3.0 of Netscape (the first beta was codenamed "Atlas") was the first to face any serious competition in the form of Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 . But Netscape easily remained the number one browser for the time being . </P> <P> Netscape also released a Gold version of Navigator 3.0 that incorporated WYSIWYG editing with drag and drop between web editor and email components . </P>

How much did microsoft offer to pay for netscape