Slashdot Mirror
Peeking at Netscape 8
Andrew Sayers writes "It seems like Netscape 8 has hit blogland, with generally positive review at blogspot.com - although it makes the point that the IE rendering mode could hurt Firefox in the long-run, because it gives sites an excuse to stick with their old IE-only designs." Ah, remember when the release of a Netscape mattered?
Ah, remember when the release of a Netscape mattered?
No, cant say I do.
...as "Peeing at Netscape 8" and thought how, finally, here's an article that a geek could appreciate.
I expect the great look turns into great functionality, but what they done to increase the size from 4MB to 12MB?!?!?!
http://www.michel.eti.br
I installed it, First thing i noticed is the weather on my browser interface... And then something called weather bug... To ME, The interface is overwhelming. I don want messenger icons, shopping links,and what ever else they sqeezed in to fill the empty spots. Back - Forward - Print is all I need on my browser.
-- I Dont Deserve A Sig I Have Bad Karma
Remember that you can use IE conditional comments
<!--[if IE 5]>
You are using Internet Exploder. Please switch to Firefox
<![endif]-->
to Spread Firefox.
Minimal extra work means you can spoof the gold UI bar, which has the advantage of scaring people. Use Internet Exploder's proprietary features against itself. Standards forever!
Review talks about how pleasing the new toolbar interface is. GAG. Its absolutly horrendus.
Another third-party browser will ultimately help the browser scene, regardless of how widespread its adoption is. At any rate, the release of this browser, especially with the publicity surrounding it, might help bring the need to reform the Mozilla development process (from an article a few hours ago).
Competition never hurt, and whether the new Netscape is a success or failure, its another alternative for users tired of the current selection of browsers for whatever reason.
Ultimately, a wider selection of browsers will benefit the internet as a whole, by encouraging open standards, rather than allowing any one manufacturer to dictate practice with their usage majority.
If I have windows I have IE(no choices here), if I want netscape rendering I have Firefox/Mozilla. Getting a bloated version of mozilla to replace essentially mozilla seems a little silly.
Having a dual rendering based browser just doesn't make any sence.
I really like the idea of multi bar. On firefox I have several toolbars that I love and really can't do without, but do not use them all at the same time. Is there a firefox multi bar extension out there somewhere?
Ah, remember when the release of a Netscape mattered?
Actually, this one matters quite a bit. For example:
the IE rendering mode could hurt Firefox in the long-run, because it gives sites an excuse to stick with their old IE-only designs."
This release isn't a good thing. It's a blow to the progress that Firefox and Mozilla have made, and more to the point, it's a significant FU to the developers, as it reduces all of their hard work to a painfully ugly IE add on.
"Live Free or Die." Don't like it? Then keep out of the USA
Ah, remember when the release of a Netscape mattered?
For me, it went something like this:
Netscape 1.0: Hey, cool! This World Wide Web thing is awesome!
Netscape 2.0: Backgrounds! Word!
Netscape 3.0: Different fonts, better frames, more plug-ins... keep it coming!
Netscape 4.0: Why won't these links work? *click click click click* Grrrr...
Netscape 6.0: Oh God.
Netscape 7.0: Whatever, I'm using IE now.
Netscape 8.0: Whatever, I'm using Firefox now.
The coolest voice ever.
Even 6.2 is nicer than 7.0, and any new release is a step further on the road to a horrendious browser that might be orange, black, and royal blue for its theme colors!
why post it? I thought it was "News for nerds, stuff that matters." There is so many things that matter that are not accepted for post, I think the editors should be ashamed of saying something like "Ah, remember when the release of a Netscape mattered?" and then just posting it.
Is there much point to using Netscape since it uses the same engine as Mozilla and Firefox and Camino?
Netscape was more relevent when it based on the old Mosaic engine because that made Netscape unique. I'm sure they could revamp the old Netscape engine if they wanted to, they would just have to put some money into it... and we all know AOL will never do that. Why use Netscape to browse with the Gecko engine, when you can use a more streamlined and optimized Firefox browser. Firefox was designed by people who know the secret tricks to really get the best out of Gecko, because they are the same programmers who actually made Gecko!!
I still keep a copy of Netscape 2.0 Gold - does everything Internet Explorer can do.
... and in the DRM, bind them.
FTA: "Considering the recent popularity of Firefox, and the brand name Netscape holds, I can foresee this being a very popular browser. It could not only be a threat to Internet Explorer, as Firefox has been, but also Firefox itself."
Netscape? Strong brandname? Yes people who have been on the net for awhile know of them, but the way I see it the Netscape PR department have their work cut out for them to match the media buzz that surrounded FF 1.0 release, let alone convince people they should switch from IE/FF (back) to Netscape.
Don't get me wrong, I love and use firefox, but you won't get it installed on an old PI-233 with 32MB RAM.
Internet Explorer DOES install and work on that configuration.
Netscape is that dialup service that competes with Netzero right?
"It's a blow to the progress that Firefox and Mozilla have made..."
Why is it a blow to Mozilla and Firefox? Are Moz and FF copying what Netscape is doing? No? Are Moz and FF still available in configurations you prefer? Then what's the problem?
", and more to the point, it's a significant FU to the developers, as it reduces all of their hard work to a painfully ugly IE add on."
How is this a Fuck You to the developers at Mozilla? I seem to recall that Mozilla wouldn't exist without Netscape, and there's that small issue of Netscape basically paying Mozilla's way when it went independant. If anyone has a right to base a browser on Mozilla, it's Netscape.
Oh, and some businesses NEED a browser that can view IE code, because some business apps require it. You don't have to like that, by way shoot Netscape for providing an alternative to IE that fills a need?
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
and then look ato rmationBar
http://minghong.dyndns.org:8080/OpenWiki/?NoIEInf
which has great IE InfoBar spoofing, including lots of localizations!
So where does this leave Netscape on Mac or Linux? Will the Netscape 8 become available for Mac using IE5? Dear god anything but that.
Ah, remember when the release of a Netscape mattered?
It still does, especially if you're a fed. Many gov't agencies still use Netscape, and will make use of this new release simply because they're all still stuck in the 90's. I don't know firsthand, but I'd be willing to bet Firefox didn't get much attention from the government. Most feds only know "IE" and "Netscape."
it makes the point that the IE rendering mode could hurt Firefox
More than Firefox. The Microsoft HTML control (the IE rendering engine) is inherently insecure by design. It's not possible to use it in a way that doesn't open up cross-zone attacks because "security zones" are such a deep part of its design. The IE rendering mode has the potential of hurting anyone who uses it but think they're somehow safer because they're not using IE.
Back in my day, we used Mosaic, and we liked it!
You are completely correct, I watched my roommate who is not at all a computer science person convince his redneck friend to use firefox last week and I was surprised to see one of his first points was that it is related to netscape.
It helps to establish familiarity I guess.
forget it.
blogspot.com is a free hosting site for blogger.com weblogs. Saying "a review at blogspot.com" is like saying "a review at geocities.com" - it's meaningless, as anyone could have written it. If Slashdot is going to link to random bloggers, at least make it clear that the author is a random blogger as opposed to part of some semi-legitimate sounding site.
At any rate, the reviews by Danial Glazman (author of Nvu and Mozilla Composer) and Blake Ross (of the Firefox team) are far more enlightening.
Err, no. This new Netscape browser is Windows-only, so it probably isn't going to affect Firefox adoption in Linux
Besides, just about every desktop Linux user uses Firefox, Mozilla, Konqueror, Opera, Epiphany, Galeon, or some other top-notch, secure, standards-compliant browser. Firefox adoption in Linux (or any other *nix) doesn't really matter, because just about everybody is using a really nice browser. There is almost no gain for the Mozilla organization to switch every Konqueror, Epiphany, and Galeon user to Mozilla or Firefox (Epiphany and Galeon are already Gecko-based), kind of like how Debian isn't trying to convince Gentoo or Fedora users to switch.
Things are different on the Windows side of the fence, however. Currently, IE still has a stronghold on Windows desktops. IE is literally falling apart from the seams, yet most users don't know (and don't care), even though their spyware and adware problems have multiplied over the years. However, Mozilla and Firefox are finally available for them, and the reception from users is mostly great.
As for the IE rendering inside of the new Netscape browser, I don't like the idea at all. Every single IE exploit now becomes a Netscape exploit, and we all know how buggy and insecure IE's rendering engine is. Plus, I've never had a problem opening up web pages at all with Firefox/Mozilla. If I needed to enter a site which required ActiveX, and it was important, I can always download a Firefox extension (on a Windows computer) to view the site.
Besides, we should be promoting standards. If we can switch people to Firefox, we can switch people to XHTML, CSS, Java/Perl/Python, and other standards. Developers need to learn the dangers of sticking to MS-only code (insecurity and Windows-lockin; what about the Mac and *nix users?) and learn how to change. Is it that difficult to learn XHTML, CSS, and some programming language that can do everything that ActiveX can do, without the insecurities?
. . .where I work (tech support for a major ISP), I am allowed to support netscape, but not firefox, so I recommend it as an alternative to IE.
I figure that less than 5% of the people I speak to (people who are having problems with their internet connection) are using something other than Windows + IE. Most of that 5% are Mac users (and mostly OS 8-9).
I know people use linux/mac/bsd/etc, and firefox/netscape/opera/lynx/etc, but those that do either don't use my ISP, don't have problems, don't call when they do have problems, or some combination of the above.
Don't save Windows XP! http://www.petitiononline.com/jjw1xp/petition.html