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First Peek at Netscape Navigator 9
lisah writes "Netscape released a beta version of Navigator 9 (Linux.com shares corporate overlordship with Slashdot) today that includes several new components while giving some old ones the boot. This release will no longer ship with mail or composer but does have URL correction, a pre-populated RSS feed menu, and a neat clipboard in the browser's sidebar that will hold links to websites you want to visit again but not necessarily bookmark."
Oh like I really need one more browser to worry about when I'm making a webpage. I already have to write most of the scripts twice for IE and Firefox! I hope nobody uses it :(
Google's Super Secret Search Algorithm: SELECT @search_results FROM internet WHERE @search_results = 'good'
I may be a little out of the loop, but I'm surprised that Netscape is still around. I thought the Microsoft monopolizing juggernaut that is Internet Explorer wiped out the once famous net browser...guess I was wrong.
He then proceeds to order an Aristotle of the most ping-pong tiddly in the nuclear sub.
I used to be a big fan of Netscape back in the day but to be honest its dead, AOL screwed it and now its as good as dead and buried. On the plus side AOL/TW did donate alot of money to the Mozilla Org and that allowed it to get behind Firefox big time and get it where it is today.
I have to say Netscape was a good browser and I can't fault it back in the 3.x and 4.x days but since the 4.x tree ended and they've released 6.x, 7.x etc its always felt buggy as hell and bloated, its a sad sad end for one of the first real Dot Coms.
I think we need to lay Netscape to rest now....
"WebTV: bringing the Internet into the shallow end of the gene pool since 1995" - Martin Bishop
Honestly, I don't mean this as a troll, but does anyone use Netscape? Even AOL doesn't use Netscape. What's the point?
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
"For those who remember the Netscape Navigator suite, it's lost a little weight -- Navigator no longer includes mail or HTML composer components, just a souped-up Firefox build with a number of features that integrate with the Netscape.com portal."
I'm glad to hear it's been slimmed down, but really, is integration with the Netscape.com portal a big feature?
I wonder if Netscape still have the brand power to draw in old skool internet users to use their product once again if it turns out to be a good alternative to IE/FF/Opera/etc...
I first started using Netscape back in 95 and used it for years till IE5 came out. After that I just got stuck with IE and used Opera here and there but I always had Netscape in the back on my mind. Hey its its based on FF and works good I'd switch to it just because it was my first browser.
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
Netscape Navigator is already the slowest browser out there. It has seen more bloat then William Shatner in the last few years.
*Loads up Netscape Navigator*
Me: "Scotty, More power to Structual Integrity!"
Scotty: "I have nay power to give! Its just too damn Fat!"
A morning without coffee is like something without something else.
Netscape confirms it.
Ah, I remember using Netscape before I'd even heard of IE... That was back when all I knew about Microsoft was that Windows was the wrong kind of computer, because my family had a MAC! (System 7.5) How I'll miss that shooting star in the upper right-hand corner of the screen...
Because I have only one radiation suit...
No, wait, let me do it. Please?
Netscape 7 really was a nice browser. I can't fault it. It was fast, stable and lean. I actually think it was more stable then Firefox. Just make sure you don't install all that junk that came with it. I used 7.2 on Linux until about 1 year ago. Unfortunately, it became pretty antiquated and started rendering some pages wrong, handling things like google video not very well. Firefox eventually became the better option for me. Now version 8 was horrible. It lasted about 5 minutes on my Windows laptop. This version looks promising. After a brief spin, I like it. Not that it has so many great advantages or anything, but curiosity usually encourages me to change around because things get boring. I think everyone is really starting to get the browser right and refined. I like all the new ones, IE7, Opera and Mozilla. The competition is helping keep quality in check.
Nutscrape Masturbator
They still make Netscape?
NetWho? Is that some sort of Mozilla knockoff?
Wasn't Netscape a cheap ISP for a while? Now it's a browser again?
I'm confused.
You can't take the sky from me...
..that people still use Netscape Navigator.
Is this article for real, or some dupe from 10 years ago?
Would I ever use Netscape over Firefox or Camino? Probably not. Does it seem like some queer throwback to days gone by? Yes. Does it, on some level, seem kind of pathetic in the same way when A Flock of Seagulls shows up at some local bar/theater for a concert? Yes.
But I quickly realize that, as a web developer I can only stand behind them and cheer them on as a great alternative to IE. There's nothing wrong with another standards-compliant, Gecko-based browser on the market.
I just realized the irony that there is a Gecko broswer called Flock.
Didn't Netscape drop mail and composer a while back? Let's see...
From Netscape's Browser FAQ (emphasize is mine):
If I recall correctly, Netscape 7 was based on the Mozilla suite (now known as SeaMonkey) and included those components, and with version 8, they based it on Firefox (which never included mail and composer) and went back to calling it "Navigator".
You'd think that "journalists" might research their stories a little bit.
"Outlook not so good" was our favorite phrase during a recent (somewhat painful) mail conversion.
What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?
How many people actually have commented on this article already without actually downloading and trying the product?
Let's all give it a good shot first before making some quick judgments. Sure it may just be a branded Firefox, but it also may have some great uses. Maybe this is a browser that may be the recommended browser for your aunts and uncles when they get a new system? Who knows.. Let's at least give it a shot before shooting it and leaving it for dead.
h
Valkyrie is about to die! Wizard needs food -- badly!
JWZ, of original Netscape, famously referred to AOL's continual efforts to slap the "Netscape" name on something, anything -- a browser variant, a portal, a low-cost internet connection, whatever -- as "brand necrophilia".
This reviewer apparently has not used any recent releases of Netscape (as I have). I am currently using Netscape version 7.2, now, to write this article (I abandoned Internet Explorer a long time ago due to security issues; I only use it when I get a site that will only work with IE). I have Netscape 8.1 installed, but I don't use it a whole lot, because (1) they moved the menus from the left side to the right side (2) they removed the print button, and (most significant) (3) they removed mail and composer. Without mail as part of the program it has reduced functionality. With mail as part of the program I can just click on 'Window' and 'Mail' to send a message; otherwise I have to go to the start menu and find whatever the hell the program is that is the mail suite spun out of Mozilla, Evolution? (I looked it up in the start menu; it's called Thunderbird.) I used to use composer and sometimes I use it when I need to build a table, so while it's unfortunate I can live without it. Mail and composer has been gone since at least 8.1, was this guy unaware of this?
Paul Robinson — My BlogThe lessons of history teach us - if they teach us anything - that nobody learns the lessons that history teaches us.
The Seamonkey suite is the ongoing project of the original Mozilla Suite. It has the functionality of Netscape 7 (plus some) as well as the updated support of the rendering engine from Firefox 2 and other security updates. (see the news release for more info.
Disclosure: I have been running Mozilla suite and now Seamonkey since about 1999.
Like pi? Try 10,000 digits.
I think Netscape lives on in Firefox and other Gecko based browsers (of which the one currently called "Netscape" is just one). It's just a name change.
Sure, there was a complete rewrite from the original netscape, but at least initially, that was mostly done by employees of netscape (well, the netscape division of AOL).
People get too hung up on the names, in my opinion. If Firefox was just called "Netscape The Next Generation" and this thing was just called "AOL's branded version of Netscape TNG", the only real difference between today would be that no one could claim that Netscape was dead.
On installing the beta, I found that it'll import settings & bookmarks from:
MSIE
Netscape 8
Netscape 6/7/Mozilla 1.x
Netscape 4.x
Opera
I'm impressed that it'll import from Opera. But I'm astonished that it won't import from the second-most-used browser out there -- the one with which it shares the most code! Guess users are stuck with exporting the bookmarks from Firefox and then importing them from the file.
I certainly hope this is on the buglist to get fixed before the final release.
Compuserve, Prodigy, AOL, all that shit..
What a fool believes, he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.
Yes, this is basically just a slightly modded version of Firefox. They have a link from http://browser.netscape.com/ to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/user/5683 6 if you want to add their stuff to your Firefox. I'm not sure on the details, but this should give you at least some of the benefits of Netscape without having to use their full product.
Framing your conflicts of interest in cutesy, please-like-us, please-agree-anyway terms is not only illegal, it's putridly immoral.
Will it run Vista?
Why not use SeaMonkey instead? It's from the same code base as Netscape 7.2 with all kinds of new features and bug fixes, and (most significantly) many years of security vulnerability fixes. It also has menus on the left side, a print button, and mail and composer.
What a fool believes, he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.
http://isp.netscape.com/
You can't take the sky from me...
Netscape 8 was Windows only. So this is the first release of Netscape for Linux that does not have mail or composer. That is important to note, as the review is on linux.com.
What a fool believes, he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.
I have worked for two school districts and both have used Netscape as a primary Browser.
The reasoning is that Netscape provided a little security from Hi-jacking and installation of viruses via site visits and pop-up installations.
Since we have been using Netscape for x number of years and 99 percent of the 1000+ people use Netscape at work changing would actually cause a bit of a helpdesk nightmare as people with minimal PC experience have a real problem with change.
I personally use firefox and don't care for the "extras" included in netscape. And my boss who uses Netscape 8 has far more bugs and issues than I have ever had with firefox.
well I downloaded it before I read any of this stuff cause I do believe we owe a great deal to the Netscape people!! but it never worked... Undefined symbol XineramalsActive?
You can simplify things a lot by focusing your testing on engines, rather than browsers.
For instance, Firefox 2, SeaMonkey, 1.2, Camino 1.5 and Netscape 9 all use the same major version of Gecko. Unless you're dealing with something controlled by the UI -- extensions, for instance, or the search box on the toolbar -- they're going to treat your code more or less the same. You'll start seeing bigger differences in screen size and platform.
I have several Firefox T-shirts (yeah, I know, I'm a geek). About half the time, when I walk into a store, an employee or another customer will see the shirt and make a positive comment about Firefox. So, anecdotally, there's a positive perception of the Firefox brand out there. I remember a time when Mosaic and then Netscape WERE synonymous with the Web. I suspect that time is long gone.
(It would be an interesting experiment walking around with an IE shirt. But I'm not brave enough to do it).
[Insert pithy quote here]
I like how the toolbar in the screenshot is full of links about Opera.
Thought after IE came out and Netscape more or less died, it was released as OSS which became Mozilla and eventually Firefox. So confused over this new release, is this an updated fork of the original code that became Mozilla?
I do not think that word means what you think it means ...
I know you were obviously joking but anyway...
I never knew any companies used anything OTHER than Lotus until I came here. With the continuous errors that LookOut spews out, the failed backups, the downtime, the bugs it has when Word is open, the sluggishness, the failed backups, and just the overall lack of features, I want my Lotus Notes back!
Good grief, even the Daylight savings fix didn't work in LookOut! Why can't Microsoft ever use standards like UNIX time_t, like all other companies have been doing since the 70s?
Then which one is you? I am confused.
Don't worry I don't think anybody views your webpage anyways. Why don't you shell out some cash for some free frameworks that work automatically? Oh yeah, Opera users think your webpage suck too.
The original Netscape DevEdge site is mirrored here at mozilla.org, and most of its content has already been moved to Mozilla Developer Center.
So, this is built on Stallmans code, but where can I find the sources? Or is there some other license coming into effect here?
I still use netscape 7.2, on a socket 478 machine no less.....renders just fine and netscape mail is integrated.
Those of you who complain about 4.X and up must either have some shitty machines or ride the short bus everywhere.
Those of you who like IE don't know what a well running browser is (or ride the short bus everywhere). You're also pinko commie bastards almost as bad as the macintrash faggots.
I was actually crazy enough to stick with Netscape 4.71 (or was that 4.72?), horrible crashing and all, clear up until I heard about Mozilla (it was pre-1.0, but in the late betas), later to go on to Firefox.
Yeah, it was pretty painful, but DAMN, it made Mozilla feel so much more awesome because of the huge difference you felt in making such a sudden change.
Wow, didn't know Netscape was still developing. I was under the assumption that Mozilla/Seamonkey took over Netscape's role, but hey, you learn something new everyday. I was also wondering what the point of developing Netscape really is. I mean everyone uses Firefox, and if you want the extra bloat, you can use Seamonkey. But then it hit me. Netscape's core is Firefox. All they really did was take Firefox and repackage it with their own selection of extensions. Seamonkey is also the same, but with different extensions. So this indicates to me that Firefox needs to really get back to basics. The Firefox team should work on keeping their browser lean and mean. Just the basics to get the job done and keep improving Gecko. The Netscapes and Seamonkeys and Flocks out there can worry about packaging features, and most of us geeks will "roll our own." Essentially, Firefox becomes more like the Linux Kernel and Netscape et. al. become the distributions (OK OK I know Gecko is probably more like the kernel, but work with me here).
"It's not whether you win or lose, it's how drunk you get." -- H. J. Simpson
that is written from the ground up in Java to blow away IE 4.0?
I used Netscape as a primary browser on my linux box (just b/c Firefox refused to install for the longest time) and the default home page, netscape.com was the worst portal site I've seen. It probably could've been customized, but 40% of it was pop gossip culture, 40% of it was relationship talk, and maybe 20% of it was news. It looks like they've changed it somewhat, but seeing that type of news on a default page changed my perception of netscape permanently.
I signed up for a netscape.net email address 8 years ago (now AOL mail), and the interface was terrible. It's one redeeming factor was it was the only one of my email addresses that never got spammed, while my unpublished hotmail one, which I never used, was spammed from day 1.
Beating the dead horse since 2005 (tm).
It's going like Linux distros... we now have too many distro to choose from. Ends up confusing new end users and they don't want to switch partly because they don't know which one to choose ! Things are only turning slightly better now with the newer version of Ubuntu...
Oh Netscape....
*sigh* such a frittered away opportunity.
Ya could have been a contender!
At least, we get a new line from... The Book of Mozilla.
AOL laid off all of the Netscape engineers many years ago and the last browser was outsourced to Mercurial (small Canadian company). So who developed this one?
How happy those 5 people who still use it are going to be!
I thought Microsoft killed Netscape. Or, rather, I thought Netscape 6 killed Netscape. Never have I used (very briefly) a more computer resource hogging piece of crap...er...software than Netscape 6.
I've actually enjoyed using the beta of NN v9.0 over the last few days. Gone are the e-mail and web design components - this browser is lean and mean, and enjoys two very useful features that aren't bundled with other browsers: Mini Browser and Link Pad. I also like the smaller buttons. Netscape Navigator is FAST - and works with all of Firefox 2.0's plug-ins.
I doubt Netscape Navigator will ever reach its former level of glory, but they've certainly won me with this release.
The PC Weenies: 11 Years of Online Tech 'Too