[7] SeaMonkey was created in 2005 after the Mozilla Foundation decided to focus on the standalone projects Firefox and Thunderbird.

[5] Compared to Firefox, the SeaMonkey web browser keeps the more traditional-looking interface of Netscape and the Mozilla Application Suite.

[14] To avoid confusing organizations that still want to use the original Mozilla Application Suite, the new product needed a new name.

Originally, the name "Seamonkey" was derived by Netscape management to replace "Buttmonkey", which their developers had chosen following an internal contest for the codename.

[19] However, the Foundation emphasized that it would still provide infrastructure for community members who wished to continue development.

In effect, this meant that the suite would still continue to be developed, but now by the SeaMonkey Council instead of the Mozilla Foundation.