First Peek at Netscape Navigator 9 186
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."
Netscape eh? (Score:1, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Netscape eh? (Score:4, Informative)
-and-
B) From the "What's new" page on Netscape 9:
That being said, I don't see anything in Netscape that I want that isn't already in Firefox.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Or maybe I'm just an idiot.
Re:Netscape eh? (Score:4, Informative)
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.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Total Rewrite --> Mozilla
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Firefox with a Netscape toolbar (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I can only see this of use in situations where the PHB is fixated on the Netscape name for some reason. They'll refuse Firefox, but Netscape is fine since they've used that forever.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
On the topic of why they are still releasing it, personally I think its just about portal integration now. There are still many Netscape ISP users, and some Netscape portal users. This browser if perfect for those folks. Otherwise, its pretty pointless.
Re: (Score:2)
The last place I worked which used it was in 2004 - maybe they still do - 'cos somehow their management thought anything from Mozilla was too experimental (and anything from Microsoft too insecure). I suppose this is for them.
The flame has been passed on.
Re: (Score:2)
I remember the excitement when Netscape 4.x was originally ported to Linux. The mainstream browser / email client / whatever (who cared about IE?) was now available for us.
The last place I worked which used it was in 2004 - maybe they still do - 'cos somehow their management thought anything from Mozilla was too experimental (and anything from Microsoft too insecure). I suppose this is for them.
The flame has been passed on.
Netscape 4.x was available for Linux from the very beginning as well as on a host of other UNIX platforms. The number of platforms that Netscape supported in those days was very impressive. I think that's what scared Microsoft - if the web became the platform and Netscape remained the browser of choice it wouldn't matter if the user was running Windows, Mac, OS/2, Linux or a number of Unix variants.
When I started using Linux Netscape 3 was the current release and a Linux version was definitely available fo
What's the point? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:1)
Souped-up? (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm glad to hear it's been slimmed down, but really, is integration with the Netscape.com portal a big feature?
Netscape.com/.net (Score:2)
I signed up for a netscape.net email address 8
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Brand power (Score:3, Informative)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
I so wish Netscape would hand over its name to the Mozilla foundation. I want to see Ballmer's face when the growing firefox browser's name is changed to Netscape.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
I would guess not. Firefox has managed to build up a highly recognizable name, and probably has a bigger following in raw numbers than Netscape did back in its heyday, considering how many more people are on the internet than there were 10 years ago. (Just remember, 78.3% of statistics are made up on the spot.)
On the other han
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Why? I'm glad you asked [alternativ...liance.com]. For all the varying levels of standards compliance, they're at least converging, so that targeting standards, then tweaking for quirks, has a better chance of succeeding across browsers than targeting the browsers to begin with. On the other hand, security vulnerabilities (other than misuse of intentional functionality, like the IDN spoofing attacks a whi
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
You know how often I have to recode for Opera? Twice so far, in the last three years.
When you mostly
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Bookmarks are dead (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Hey, what do you know? Some things ARE universal.
Long live Netscape! (Score:1)
Just kill it already! (Score:2)
Version 7 was nice, 8 not so.. (Score:3, Interesting)
Could try Seamonkey (Score:4, 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 [mozilla.org] for more info.
Disclosure: I have been running Mozilla suite and now Seamonkey since about 1999.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Could try Seamonkey (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/news.ht
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SeaMonkey [wikipedia.org]
Clipboard feature in FF or SM (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
The point of this feature is you can clipboard links which you WANT to visit again, but do NOT want to bookmark. That's quite an innovation in my opinion.
I also heard they plan in Netscape 10 to introduce a place where you put links which you WANT to visit, but do NOT want to bookmark and do NOT want to clipboard.
Next to this, they plan to introduce a "address board" - a place where you c
I think I speak for everyone here when I say (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Ah, Netscape. This takes me back to my youth and the early days of the web. Tables were simple, frames were unheard of, graphics were unanimated, CSS and dynamic html were just dreams, Ajax was a cleaning product, and we all used to hang our with Ritchie, Ralph, and the Fonz at Al's Diner.
But Netscape were the inventors of frames (and of course the blink tag) and they're probably the first to introduce the animated gif to browsers. They also created JavaScript (originally called LiveScript IIRC).
How well does it work with Napster? (Score:3, Funny)
I'm confused.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:How well does it work with Napster? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
product type would be webserver, mail server, collaboration, etc.
The whole process was confusing. Aside from losing Netscape with the AOL deal, I miss the Netscape Developer Center content. In the old days, Netscape and Microsoft pro
Netscape ISP (Score:2)
Still a good thing (Score:3, Insightful)
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 [flock.com].
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm going to give this browser an honest run. For me, like many people (from what I hear), FF 2.0 wasn't a big step in the right directi
No mail or composer since Netscape 7 (Score:4, Informative)
Didn't Netscape drop mail and composer a while back? Let's see...
From Netscape's Browser FAQ [netscape.com] (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.
No Netscape on Linux since Netscape 7 (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
OK, I could accept the idea that the this is new to the author (and other Linux users)...
Something doesn't add up.
Re: (Score:2)
Comments without Experience (Score:5, Insightful)
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
Comments from Experience (Score:2)
If Netscape repeats what it's done in the past, Netscape release versions will be several security release versions behind Firefox, and perhaps include a few extra security vulnerabilities as an added bonus. Right now, Netscape 8 seems to be the only browser that Secunia reports as having highly critical vulnerabilities [secunia.com]. Let's all sit and wait to see if it's safe to use before we deci
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Agreed. But since I am an IT professional I have sort of a duty to download and test these things so I can make some recommendations to my clients regarding the software when I encounter it in the workforce.
That said, I did not find any "Try AOL [OMGWTF!11 ALLYOURBASEBELONGTOUS]" shortcuts in NS9 thank god. Installation was almost a compl
Nothing new here, move along... (Score:3, Informative)
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 [paul-robinson.us]SeaMonkey (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (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
Won't import from Firefox (Score:2)
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.
Turn Firefox into Netscape (Score:2)
Firefox Brand (Score:2)
(It would be an interesting experiment walking around with an IE shirt. But I'm not brave enough to do it).
Re: (Score:2)
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).
I get a lot of people commenting on the Firefox t-shirt too, I normally wear the t-shirts when travelling and I've had positive comments from check-in staff, airport security staff, passengers and cabin crew.
Netscape Brand (Score:2)
*sigh* such a frittered away opportunity.
Ya could have been a contender!
Netscape == Mozilla? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
More info in this comment [slashdot.org].
Re-Focus for FireFox (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Is this going to be the one (Score:3, Funny)
Netscape is back! (Score:2)
I doubt Netscape Navigator will ever reach its former level of glory, but they've certainly won me with this release.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:goddamit! (Score:4, Insightful)
From About: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.8.1.5pre) Gecko/20070604 Firefox/2.0.0.4 Navigator/9.0b1
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Also, in TFA, it says it's based on firefox.
I realize it's a joke, but... (Score:5, Informative)
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.
Re:Netscape is dead (Score:5, Insightful)
Netscape 4.x is what killed Netscape. Maybe the early 4.0 versions were acceptable, I really can't remember, but by around 4.5 it was a bloated, slow, buggy browser. Netscape 4.x is what made Internet Explorer popular. IE 5 was a breath of fresh air compared with Netscape 4. (Personally, I think that IE 4 was also many times better than NS 4, but that's a different argument. It's really unarguable that IE 5 was superior, though.)
Now some people might cry out that IE is a security nightmare and that no one should choose it over Netscape for that reason, but NS 4 was also a security nightmare. It was, simply, a worse browser than IE 5. It was in the NS 4 days that I switched to IE, and it was because IE was simply a better browser.
Netscape died in the 4.x days, when the browser became a large, slow, and bloated piece of crap. Compared with Netscape 4, IE was a fast, light, agile browser with many more features and provided a much better experience. As someone writing webapps around the Netscape 4.5/IE 5 days, I can say that IE provided a much nicer platform to write webapps for.
That changed around the release of Mozilla 1.0; but around the time of Netscape 4.5, IE was simply the better browser while Netscape was simply no longer improving their browser.
Re:Netscape is dead (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Netscape died in the 4.x days, when the browser became a large, slow, and bloated piece of crap. Compared with Netscape 4, IE was a fast, light, agile browser with many more features and provided a much better experience. As someone writing webapps around the Netscape 4.5/IE 5 days, I can say that IE provided a much nicer platform to write webapps for.
That changed around the release of Mozilla 1.0; but around the time of Netscape 4.5, IE was simply the better browser while Netscape was simply no longer improving their browser.
Yeah, I remember those days. I stubbornly stuck with Nutscrape 4.x for the longest time simply because I could not bring myself to use IE. I ended up working at a place that was standardized to all IE5 and realized "you know what? It doesn't suck as bad as Nutscrape." It was what, a 20 or 30mb download and then came bundled with four different kinds of this and that software? what a pain!
It took me a long time to switch from IE over to Firefox but I'm loving it now. The best part is losing the web browser
Re: (Score:2)
But I would like to THANK Netscape and AOL for the millions of dollars they poured into doing that rewrite. Even though it's not perfect, they (and NOT, mainly, open source developers working for free) created the vast majority of what is now the best browser i
Dead? Appropriate terminology... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
I do not think that word means what you think it means ...
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe you're thinking of 4.5 and later, but I had given up and bought an Opera license before that version was released.
I'm not convinced netscape is dead (Score:3, Interesting)
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
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed, at some point the discussion is just a matter of semantics. Netscape as a brand basically committed suicide a few years ago, but the source they released in the form of Mozilla has made a big difference to the the Web by maki
Re:Netscape is dead (Score:4, Funny)
WHAT IS AOL????
Re: (Score:2)
Can I get a "ME TOO!!!"?
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Netscape is dead (Score:5, Funny)
It's the company that makes Winamp. They used to make free backup diskettes that you had to reformat before using. They sent hundreds of millions of them around for free by attaching them to anything that moved. I used to have to peel them off my car each night when I got home from work. Later, they got into the landfill business by making and distributing hundreds of millions of non re-writeable CD's.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Of course, I also call Outlook, "LookOut!"
Magic 8 Ball is Always Right (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The reviewer probably just imported his settings from Opera, but it doesn't make it any less amusing.
Re: (Score:2)
Sure. But, when you find yourself living out of your vehicle, a tour bus has certain advantages.
sudo rm -f `which vi` && export EDITOR=/usr/bin/emacs-*.*-no-x11 && emacs -nw --load=www-notes-mode.elc --funcall=www-notes-mode --funcall=www-notes-enable-electric-entry --funcall=www-notes-jump-to-last-entry
(Yeah, okay - now we're really starting to get really silly.)