AOL is planning to release an updated Netscape Navigator as early as June, but whether one of the Web’s original browsers will make a comeback remains uncertain.
AOL is planning to release an updated Netscape Navigator as early as June, but whether one of the Web’s original browsers will make a comeback remains uncertain.
Just look at what AOL did for the popularity of ICQ after they ruineded^H^H^H improved it.
Netscape becomes more like AOL with every release.
There was a need to a replacement for IE and Firefox fills that void perfectly with little to no room for improvement.
Will Netscape come back? I doubt it.
This is really about AOL trying to push a new ($9.99/mo) internet service through Netscape to save it’s fleeing customer base.
If the new service does not require propriety software to connect it’s actually not a bad deal.
There was a need to a replacement for IE and Firefox fills that void perfectly with little to no room for improvement.
I doubt that. Now, don’t get me wrong because I love Firefox (by far, the best desktop app the OSS world has ever created), but …
I don’t know why the design of the thing is so modular, because even WITHOUT the extensions, it’s still bigger in size and slower than Opera.
As for Netscape, who needs it? If I want AIM, I can download it seperately, kthnx.
“I doubt that. Now, don’t get me wrong because I love Firefox (by far, the best desktop app the OSS world has ever created), but …
I don’t know why the design of the thing is so modular, because even WITHOUT the extensions, it’s still bigger in size and slower than Opera. ”
firefox 0.9 is going to be only 4.2 mb and comes in with loads of enhancements. come on guys.give the guy a break. he is just one developer and its a technology preview. not even a 1.0 release yet.
if ya’ll like firefox and opera because of their smaller footprints, check this out http://hmdt-web.net/shiira/ this sucker is only like a meg!
Gah, I wish Dillo would develop into a full featured browser. I should go help those guys, it’s such a cool browser. 350k!
Who needs netscape when you got Firefox ?
and who needs netscape when you got Mozilla ?
It’s funny that Netscape is actually, build on top of the Mozilla code, since the 5.0 version…
If the Netscape browser released by AOL is unlike all Netscapes since, oh, 6.0 — bloated, slow, and packed with annoying commercial features — it will simply continue its long, gruesome descent into oblivion.
What a sad, sad travesty of the Netscape name. Long live Mozilla/Firebird/etc.
…er, I mean, if “the Netscape browser released by AOL is LIKE all Netscapes since…”
what it think this “new netscape, the browwser” is :
http://webperso.easyconnect.fr/danielglazman/weblog/dotclear/index….
—
http://www.bebox.nu/
It’s funny that Netscape is actually, build on top of the Mozilla code, since the 5.0 version…
True and thats why I say its dead. It will always be a step behind Mozilla as Mozilla is the foundation and sees the code revisions first.
So knowing this why use netscape at all ?
I don’t know why the design of the thing is so modular, because even WITHOUT the extensions, it’s still bigger in size and slower than Opera.
with the new 7zip based builds, Firefox is only 4.6M. I know, percentage-wise that’s quite far from Opera’s 3.4M, but if you are on broadband an extra 1.2M shouldn’t make much of a difference. Speaking of speed, Firefox works just as fast Opera for me, plus give Firefox a chance to hit 1.0 Final.
Speaking of Netscape 7.2, it will be nothing but a messed up version of Mozilla 1.7
Netscape Toolbar for IE: Block Annoying Pop-Ups http://channels.netscape.com/ns/search/install.jsp
Who’d have ever thought that you could have a Netscape plugin of sorts for the Internet Explorer browser?
Not in the head of the casual or non-technical user. I don’t know about your company but mine has plenty of old hands, that learned PC and Internet in the last two decades and in the beginning there was only one: Netscape.
Whenever a hardware upgrade is due, they demand “Netscape” as their browser/e-mail and we tech guys happily comply because this is company policy anyway. We install Mozilla and explain, that this is Netscape, but without advertisements. All are happy: the user, because she has Netscape, the company because it has ISO compliance and tech because we don’t have to worry about the next IE exploit.
So don’t tell me Netscape is dead.
Personally i wish that Mozilla would add support for writing plugins in .NET/Mono/DotGNU. Writing plugins in Javascript/XPCOM is not much fun imho.
I think the only people who would use Netscape are:
* People who dont care / know which browser they use
* People who arent allowed to use something else (eg due to company policy)
Otherwise, what does Netscape have to offer that Mozilla / Firefox doesnt?
Regards,
Shaitan
so I support the release of whatever AOL pumps out. Hopefully web developers (more and more of them) might start figuring you have to develop according to standards and not only to IE.
This might not seem for many to be a problem but I seriously think it’s a huge problem.
Anyway, I sincerely hope Mozilla get out the new stable release pretty soon, and that Firefox perhaps finally can reach 1.0
Firefox is amazing =)
Despite IE not being updated for a number of years, and Moz and Firefox becoming wonderful browsers, they will not make a dent in IE’s market share.
The problem is that for every Mozilla installation, there is about four or five new IE installations cropping up from new computer purchuses. Unless some commercial entity (I doubt AOL is going to step up to the bat), signs deals with large OEMs to bundle Mozilla/Netscape/Firefox, it isn’t going to make a dent in IE’s market share.
Otherwise, what does Netscape have to offer that Mozilla / Firefox doesnt?
Access to Netscape Mail from their mail program?
>I think the only people who would use Netscape are:
>* People who dont care / know which browser they use
>* People who arent allowed to use something else (eg due
> to company policy)
>
>Otherwise, what does Netscape have to offer that Mozilla
>/ Firefox doesnt?
how about people who are still using mac os 9.x? they don’t have an option for mozilla/firefox/camino.
but thanks for the arrogance.
I use Netscape 7.1 because of its AIM client. It is ad-free, and looks better. Otherwise, I would probably just use FireFox.
Who really needs Netscape. It’s technology is really outdated and really doesn’t carry weight anymore. I dropped it’s 4.X products a long time ago and it’s netscape 7 is more branded towards AOL with features which you cannot turn off. Mozilla/Firefox browsers are far superior to IE or Netscape. Atleast they are updated every quarter or so. IE 6.01 hasn’t made an upgrade in over two years.
A lot of people are saying “Why Netscape?” I’ll tell you why, because it’s still a name. You put the Netscape name on mozilla, and do nothing else, and you’ll get a user-base (though small) that wouldn’t even consider Mozilla. I’ve set people up with Mozilla before who say “I don’t want this. What’s ‘Moe-zie-la’?” I say, “It’s the new name for Netscape.” and they say “Oh. Ok then.”
I’ve been in companies where I suggested we use Mozilla as the standard Web browser, only to have some PHB turn me down flat. That same PHB will then say, “Well what about Netscape?”
For now, the mass of people only know about Internet Explorer, but the people who have been around a while at least remember Netscape and think of it as a “real” brand. I kind of wish, for that reason, AOL would continue to just take Mozilla, change the graphics from dinosaurs to lighthouses, and re-release it as Netscape. I don’t need them to change anything, if they just do that, they’ll be making regular releases of a very nice web browser that stupid people won’t complain about.
I wish Netscape would just go away.
It’s not that it’s a bad browser (it’s built off Mozilla tech more or less nowadays), but:
a. The world doesn’t need yet another browser with slightly differing standards than the rest. It confuses users when pages display differently on different browsers, and it pisses off us developers who now have to customize & test our code in yet another browser/OS combination.
b. Netscape is now loaded up with AOL bullsh*t. I won’t go so far as to label it spyware, but it’s a bloated install either way (at least as recently as Netscape 7 it was)
c. Netscape’s userbase is dwindling fast. AOL keeps saying that Netscape’s going away, so users either cling to existing versions, or, as is more often the case, they migrate to another browser entirely (Mozilla, IE, or Safari typically, dependant on platform and preferences. Operat to a point also I suppose, though I know of no “regular user” who uses Opera. It’s chief users seem to be geeks & power surfers). To have AOL again saying “Wait! We’re bringing Netscape back from the dead” for like the 3rd time now is just painful.
d. By repeatedly entering and leaving the market, Netscape is also behind technology-wise. Sure, they can pick up Mozilla’s current code base as their foundation, but why? Just create an AOL branded Mozilla-based browser. Drop the whole “Gotta be different” Netscape mentality and be done with it.
Netscape’s heyday is behind now. Far behind… Let’s all appreciate what it was, and what became of it (Mozilla!) rather than keep dredging up the original to show how out of step it is with todays competition?
You can almost hear Netscape’s squeaky Python-esque voice alongside that of the Amiga, BeOS, Commodore 64’s, and countless other technologies that people just won’t let die saying “But I’m not dead yet!”
I fully agree with this opinion.
BTX, those who say in the same sentence that Netscape is outdated and Mozilla is state of the art show how clueless they are…
Plus :
– Netscape comes bundled with common plugins such as Java and Flash, end-users (90% of the population) don’t want to download 10 plugins from 10 different sources after installing Mozilla just to be able to browse the web.
– Netscape 7 can import NS4 address books, Mozilla can’t
– Some sites (banks for instance) accept connections and give hotline suport to Netscape users but not to Mozilla (because they sniff the User Agent, and no, joe-user isn’t hping to install a UA-spooging extension 😉
– integration with AIM/ICQ is cool
I like Mozilla and Netscape for the integration. I like the Mozilla and Netscape mail clients available in one suite as well as my calendar. I already push Mozilla because IE is no longer supported standalone on older Windows versions.
Since part of my job is being a webdevelopper too, I will comment on this.
“a. The world doesn’t need yet another browser with slightly differing standards than the rest. It confuses users when pages display differently on different browsers, and it pisses off us developers who now have to customize & test our code in yet another browser/OS combination. ”
Netscape is based on Mozilla, it follows the W3C standards and pages don’t display differently in Netscape than they do in Mozilla. Last site I did displayed perfectly in all gecko browsers and Opera, the only browserq causing problems were IE5/6.
“b. Netscape is now loaded up with AOL bullsh*t. I won’t go so far as to label it spyware, but it’s a bloated install either way (at least as recently as Netscape 7 it was) ”
That’s why it is an internet SUITE, it can display flash animations, bare Mozilla can’t, it can use japa applets, bare Mozilla can’t etc. Furthermore, most of what you consider bloat is precisely why some people prefer Netscape over Mozilla and all this can be unselected on installation.
“c. Netscape’s userbase is dwindling fast.”
As a web developper I don’t care about Netscape’s user base or MacDonald’s market share, I care about rendering engine user base and netscape has an excellent rendering engine. I had 0.2% Netscape 7 users at the end of 2002, I have 2% now, that’s marginal but certainly not dwindling.
“d. By repeatedly entering and leaving the market, Netscape is also behind technology-wise. Sure, they can pick up Mozilla’s current code base as their foundation, but why? Just create an AOL branded Mozilla-based browser. Drop the whole “Gotta be different” Netscape mentality and be done with it. ”
Netscape has been based on Mozilla since 2000, any browser being released today with Mozilla 1.7 at its core is certainly not behind technology-wise. This summer all gecko browsers will be built upon 1.7, including Netscape, which is an excellent news. If netscape had not beeen updated, many developpers would still consider 1.4 as the gecko developper reference.
“You can almost hear Netscape’s squeaky Python-esque voice alongside that of the Amiga, BeOS, Commodore 64’s, and countless other technologies that people just won’t let die saying “But I’m not dead yet!”
Stupid comparizon, Netscape 7.2 is state of the art innovative technology based on XUL. Can you show me the XAML version of IE ?
Who really needs Netscape. It’s technology is really outdated and really doesn’t carry weight anymore. I dropped it’s 4.X products a long time ago and it’s netscape 7 is more branded towards AOL with features which you cannot turn off.
While I agree with most of this, the technology isn’t far behind Mozilla, simply because it is Mozilla (just not the latest release). I dropped Netscape during the 4.x years as well (when IE5 was released), but have been using FireFox since one of the Phoenix releases.
Mozilla/Firefox browsers are far superior to IE or Netscape. Atleast they are updated every quarter or so. IE 6.01 hasn’t made an upgrade in over two years.
I don’t really need to see constant updates (and occasionally skip the Firefox updates), but IE is up to 6.0.2800. It’d be nice if they’d do something significant (which they’ve said they will in the next XP service pack), but I can’t really say that I care when I can get most of what I want from it in MyIE2, or simply use FireFox instead.
I don’t know why the design of the thing is so modular, because even WITHOUT the extensions, it’s still bigger in size and slower than Opera. “
firefox 0.9 is going to be only 4.2 mb and comes in with loads of enhancements.
Okay, I don’t have time to confirm this (i.e., I’m not really sure where to look as I don’t keep up with firefox outside of official releases). However, let’s assume, for the sake of arguement, this is true.
So, is Opera really smaller?
With QT shared libraries opera 7 is 3.6 to 3.8 MB in size.
With QT static libraries opera 7 is 4.9 to 5 MB in size.
Now, does FirFox statically compile the small portions of GTK that it uses? If so, then it really appears that FireFox is slightly smaller than a comparable Opera. Thats both browsers with their native widget sets (QT and XUL) statically compiled.
IE 5 for Mac OS 9 beats Netscape 4’s bad ass, which is not really an amazing feat because N4 should, plainly put, have never existed and today we would have a better web.
In any case, if you still do not like IE 5 you have Mozilla 1.2 for Mac OS, which is somwhat more standard compliant than IE, but admitedly somewhat slower.
Still, no excuse to use Netscape.
“I don’t really need to see constant updates (and occasionally skip the Firefox updates), but IE is up to 6.0.2800. It’d be nice if they’d do something significant”
It’d be nicer still if IE would just have the good grace to die, and MS have the good grace bury it…
“I don’t know why the design of the thing is so modular, because even WITHOUT the extensions, it’s still bigger in size and slower than Opera. ”
Yeah, but neither do you have to pay for it or look at a bunch of advertising. Who pays for a browser in this day and age?
”
Now, does FirFox statically compile the small portions of GTK that it uses? If so, then it really appears that FireFox is slightly smaller than a comparable Opera. Thats both browsers with their native widget sets (QT and XUL) statically compiled.”
yes. it does have a portion of gtk widget stuff inside it and is comparably smaller.
Can you please provide some proof for that claim? I believe all of the GTK stuff is dynamically linked.
‘Can you please provide some proof for that claim? I believe all of the GTK stuff is dynamically linked’
the ephiphany developer talks about it frequently. there is a lot of stuff that isnt dynamically linked because it has to be mapped thru xpi
gre is not yet a seperate product. the guy is working on it thou