This one goes in the "you can please everyone" file: Apparently, Netscape is being deluged with complaints from users who downloaded the stand-alone version of Navigator, only to find that the product doesn't contain mail and news clients like the previous version did. In Netscape's defense, they were pretty clear about that and even the base version of Communicator, which includes Navigator, also includes Netscape's mail and news clients.
One user summed up his thoughts on Navigator 4.0 this way:
"What a lot of people want is no more than what they had with 3.0, myself included. I couldn't give a flying fig about Netcaster...if I want channels,I'll watch TV. What I liked about Netscape \[before\] was that they weren't Microsoft. They didn't used to try to force this kind of bloatware on everyone, and most people didn't need any sort of support to run the product. Now it's an all-or-nothing proposition."
The truth behind the recent about-face from Netscape is a little more insidious, however. As the following quote accurately reveals, Netscape's real motive had nothing to do with pleasing users.
"This has nothing to do with what \[users\] want. It's what Netscape's partners want. Lotus didn't want Netscape to include mail and news because it competed with Lotus \{Notes\]. Netscape stripped out mail and news not to please you and me, but to persuade Lotus to bundle Navigator with Notes."
Well, it worked. Lotus is now bundling Navigator 4.0 with Notes. And you can always download a copy of Communicator if you need the other features.
"If you're looking for a client that includes mail and newsgroups, that's Communicator," said Daniel Klaussen, a group product manager at Netscape. "If you're looking for just a browser, that's what Navigator is.