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First Peek at Netscape Navigator 9

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the check-out-them-peepers dept.

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."

16 of 186 comments (clear)

  1. Brand power by future+assassin · · Score: 3, Informative

    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*
  2. No mail or composer since Netscape 7 by VWJedi · · Score: 3, Informative

    This release will no longer ship with mail or composer but does have...

    Didn't Netscape drop mail and composer a while back? Let's see...

    From Netscape's Browser FAQ (emphasize is mine):

    Does Netscape Navigator 9 include a mail client/HTML composer/newsreader/...?
    No. Navigator 9 is a standalone browser; Netscape 7 is the most recent browser suite produced by Netscape.

    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.

  3. Nothing new here, move along... by rfc1394 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Navigator 9... includes several new components while giving some old ones the boot. This release will no longer ship with mail or composer...

    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 Blog
    --
    The lessons of history teach us - if they teach us anything - that nobody learns the lessons that history teaches us.
    1. Re:Nothing new here, move along... by BenoitRen · · Score: 2, Informative

      Netscape 7.2 is based on Mozilla 1.7.2. There have been many security and stability updates since then. The latest version is Mozilla 1.7.13.

      However, some time after the release of Mozilla 1.7.5, if I remember correctly, it was announced that the Mozilla Foundation would cease development of it. Developers didn't like this, and the SeaMonkey project was born. The latest SeaMonkey is SeaMonkey 1.1.2, equal to the latest Firefox 2 version, as they share the Gecko rendering engine.

      I urge you to upgrade to the latest SeaMonkey. You'll find that it's almost exactly the same as Netscape 7. SeaMonkey will find your profile and start using it (same format). Of course, best to back-up your profile folder just in case.

  4. Could try Seamonkey by swg101 · · Score: 3, Informative

    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.
    1. Re:Could try Seamonkey by just_another_sean · · Score: 2, Informative

      That's what I've been doing too. I happen to like Composer and think that Netscape removing it (along with Mail/News) basically takes away the features that make the "suite" a better choice then just the browser in a lot of situations. I'm grateful that the Mozilla folks have so far opted to keep the suite alive, I hope they don't follow the same path as Netscape on this one.

      --
      Creationist Textbook Stickers Declared Unconstitutional by CowboyNeal
    2. Re:Could try Seamonkey by bigbigbison · · Score: 3, Informative

      Actually Mozilla did kill the Mozilla Suite. They announced that they weren't going to develope it any more in favore of Firefox and Thunderbird. A new group, called the Seamonkey Council is developing it. The Mozilla foundation said that they would provide the infrastructure for them but that seems to be all they are doing.

      http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/news.htm l#2005-07-02
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SeaMonkey

      --
      http://www.popularculturegaming.com -- my blog about the culture of videogame players
  5. Re:Netscape eh? by Kelson · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's a bit more complicated than that:

    Old Netscape --> Mozilla
    Mozilla --> Netscape 6-7 (at the time, Moz was Netscape's testbed)
    Mozilla --> Firefox
    Firefox --> Netscape 8+

    But yes, as far as I'm concerned, the name may have gone one way, but the core of what Netscape signified ended up as Firefox.

  6. Re:goddamit! by xENoLocO · · Score: 2, Informative

    Code to web standards, test in IE.

    Also, in TFA, it says it's based on firefox.

    --
    "The need to build the internet comes from something inside us, something programmed... something we can't resist."
  7. SeaMonkey by bunratty · · Score: 3, Informative

    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.
  8. I realize it's a joke, but... by Kelson · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

  9. Re:Netscape eh? by nine-times · · Score: 3, Informative
    A) It could still be Firefox + features - features (the result of which could theoretically be more or less than "Firefox").
    -and-
    B) From the "What's new" page on Netscape 9:

    Extension Compatibility
    Navigator 9 shares an architecture with the latest Mozilla technologies; as such, Navigator 9 will let you install extensions that are compatible with Firefox ® 2.

    That being said, I don't see anything in Netscape that I want that isn't already in Firefox.

  10. Re:Netscape eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative
    Actually it is more like this:

    1. NSCA Mosaic --> Netscape
    1.1 Microsoft wakes up and worries that people will use the Internet as their primary computing platform so...
    1.2 NSCA Mosaic --> IE 1.0 --> I.E 2.0 --> I.E 3.0, etc. Don't believe me, go to IE and look under 'Help, About Internet Explorer'
    2. Netscape starts losing the browser war with MS and open sources the code to Mozilla so...
    3. Mozilla --> <URL:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gecko_(layout_en gine)> Gecko rendering engine
    4. Mozilla --> Netscape 6-7
    5. Mozilla --> Firefox
    6. Firefox --> Netscape 8+
    Anyone else getting tired of this soap opera?
  11. Re:Netscape eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    There is no direct lineage from NSCA Mosaic to Netscape: Marc Andreesson worked on Mosaic, and the original name of Netscape Corp. was Mosaic Communications, but no source from NCSA Mosaic was used in Netscape. The lineage to Internet Explorer is more also accurately:

    NCSA Mosaic -> Spyglass Mosaic -> Internet Explorer 1.0

    But even with that, no source from NCSA Mosaic was used in Spyglass Mosaic: Spyglass mearly licensed the technology and trademarks.

    In other words, NCSA Mosaic was a dead end.

  12. Re:Netscape eh? by Random832 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Old Netscape --> DEAD, and well-deserved at that.

    Total Rewrite --> Mozilla

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    We've secretly replaced Slashdot with new Folgers Crystals - let's see if it notices.
  13. Re:Netscape eh? by MarkKB · · Score: 2, Informative

    The original (think v1.0) code was licensed from Spyglass Mosaic, which in turn licensed the tech from NCSA Mosaic. In other words, no, it's not based on Netscape at all.