OT?: Which Netscape ?

[John Bischoff]

Realizing that this group is easily the most knowledgeable, I ask:

I have been using, and still use, Netscape 4.7 and Internet Explorer 6.0.
I find that Netscape 4.7 is not working well enough with the newer web sites and
therefore needs to be upgraded .
Which of the available versions of Netscape Communicator are least vulnerable to
bad stuff and easiest to use? I only use it for browsing, not for newsgroups
(Agent) or email (Eudora/Agent). Any comments as to a better version of IE
would also be much appreciated.
Best regards
John

 

[Blinky the Shark]

Realizing that this group is easily the most knowledgeable, I ask:

I have been using, and still use, Netscape 4.7 and Internet Explorer
6.0. I find that Netscape 4.7 is not working well enough with the
newer web sites and therefore needs to be upgraded . Which of the
available versions of Netscape Communicator are least vulnerable to
bad stuff and easiest to use? I only use it for browsing, not for
newsgroups (Agent) or email (Eudora/Agent). Any comments as to a
better version of IE

The Mozilla version. Without the crap AOL bolts onto it, and without
the news and mail clients you state you don't need. I think it's called
Firebird, this month.

 

[Derald Martin]

I find that Netscape 4.7 is not working well enough with the newer web sites and
therefore needs to be upgraded .

My only experience with I.E. is in the debate whether to install
"98Lite". Netscape v7.1 is the "new" Gecko-based netscape.
Unfortunately, since about v4.08 (not a typo), Netscape has not been
available as browser-only. For that reason, when I finally had to retire
v4.80 (not a typo), I recently installed Mozilla v1.3.1 and more
recently upgraded to v1.4; I couldn't be better pleased (win98se).
Mozilla is a Open Source development project that also is based on the
Gecko rendering engine and sports a new and totally apocryphal story
explaining its continuing use of the old Mosaic-obfuscating appellation.
Mozilla.org claims the browser is not intended for end users and that it
will metamorphose into "Firebird", a standalone browser, one of these
days. Unfortunately, the present-day "Firebird" product is a long way
from being ready for prime time, IMO; I think it must be based on older
code than the actual "mozilla" development project. For more info, look
here: http://www.mozilla.org/ ;
here: http://jack.p5.org.uk/mozilla/faq.en.html ;
here: http://mozilla.gunnars.net/ ;
here: http://www.moztips.com/ .

 

[JanC]

Mozilla.org claims the browser is not intended for end users

Meaning: we're developers and have no time to give support to a million
users...

and that it will metamorphose into "Firebird", a standalone browser,
one of these days. Unfortunately, the present-day "Firebird" product
is a long way from being ready for prime time, IMO; I think it must be
based on older code than the actual "mozilla" development project.

No, it's based on the exact same code but they are building a new user
interface for it (which is not 100% completed yet).

Note that the Mozilla & Firebird user-interfaces are written in XUL (XML),
CSS and JavaScript, and put on screen by the same Gecko engine that renders
the web pages when you're surfing.

 

[DC]

Which of the available versions of Netscape Communicator are least
vulnerable to bad stuff and easiest to use?

Add one more vote for Mozilla (suite) or Firebird (browser only).

 

[Christopher Jahn]

Realizing that this group is easily the most knowledgeable,
I ask:

I have been using, and still use, Netscape 4.7 and Internet
Explorer 6.0. I find that Netscape 4.7 is not working well
enough with the newer web sites and therefore needs to be
upgraded . Which of the available versions of Netscape
Communicator are least vulnerable to bad stuff and easiest
to use? I only use it for browsing, not for newsgroups
(Agent) or email (Eudora/Agent). Any comments as to a
better version of IE would also be much appreciated.
Best regards
John

Netscape 7.1, hands down.

 

[tlshell]

Netscape 7.1, hands down.

I use Netscape 7.0 Compact version. It's a less bloated version of
what AOL puts out.

 

[Graeme Challinor]

The Mozilla version. Without the crap AOL bolts onto it, and without
the news and mail clients you state you don't need. I think it's called
Firebird, this month.

Also have a look at K-meleon
I like it better than Mozilla and no email/news client

___________________
Graeme Challinor

 

[REMbranded]

Try mozilla-firebird. Faster, smaller.
http://texturizer.net/firebird/

Ditto. It's a really nice browser. I recently tried the ful version of
MOZ as suggested by a friend and the mail is pretty similar to
Netscape Mail. The main advantage though is the ability of the program
to flag and move spam to the junk bin. I'm pretty impressed with it so
far. It only requires minimal checking and rule setting. I recently
gave up on Netscape 4.79 myself.

I find Avant a great small program that works off of IE. It is quicker
and pages load quicker. It uses IE files and shares the bookmarks too.
It has no email program though. A stand alone 3rd party email program
can be used with it.

 

[Sami S. Sihvonen]

Which of the available versions of Netscape Communicator are least
vulnerable to bad stuff and easiest to use?

Add one more vote for Mozilla (suite) or Firebird (browser only).[/QUOTE]

Remember to check out K-Meleon, a really nice browser based on
Mozilla source code. It's small, fast and get's the job done.

 

[tlshell]

It's time to upgrade to 7.1 - it leaves 7.0 way behind.

If and when 7.0 becomes a problem, I'll consider it.

 

[moonbeam]

x-no-archive: yes
believe it or not ..I still use NS4.7 and never saw any other reason to
upgrade.. and I missing anything ?
I like the NS email and the NS newsgroups ..
let me know if I am realllllly missing a lot and what ? <G>

 

[null]

x-no-archive: yes
believe it or not ..I still use NS4.7 and never saw any other reason to
upgrade.. and I missing anything ?

A number of great new features, more stability and more security. I
like the latest version 7.10

I like the NS email and the NS newsgroups ..
let me know if I am realllllly missing a lot and what ? <G>

From a security POV alone, you're missing out on a number of
vulnerabilitity fixes, primarily with Java Script, but there are
others. It's a very good idea, IMO, to stick with the latest versions
and Moz builds.

Art
http://www.epix.net/~artnpeg

 

[Blinky the Shark]

believe it or not ..I still use NS4.7 and never saw any other reason to
upgrade.. and I missing anything ?

The ability to render modern websites.

I like the NS email and the NS newsgroups ..
let me know if I am realllllly missing a lot and what ? <G>

The Web as we know it today.

 

[John Fitzsimons]

x-no-archive: yes
believe it or not ..I still use NS4.7 and never saw any other reason to
upgrade.. and I missing anything ?
I like the NS email and the NS newsgroups ..
let me know if I am realllllly missing a lot and what ? <G>

If you only want a better browser than 4.7 then try out Firebird.
Still only alpha BUT I love the better searching of bookmarks.

http://www.mozilla.org/status/2003-07-04.html


Regards, John.

--
****************************************************
,-._|\ (A.C.F FAQ) http://clients.net2000.com.au/~johnf/faq.html
/ Oz \ John Fitzsimons - Melbourne, Australia.
\_,--.x/ http://www.aspects.org.au/index.htm
v http://clients.net2000.com.au/~johnf/

 

[tlshell]

x-no-archive: yes
believe it or not ..I still use NS4.7 and never saw any other reason to
upgrade.. and I missing anything ?
I like the NS email and the NS newsgroups ..
let me know if I am realllllly missing a lot and what ? <G>

As far as I know, only the style sheet stuff. Some pages you'll notice
are all lined up on the left and stretched out, those are done with
style sheets, which NS 4.7 can't show properly. As far as content
goes, it's hard to say as I've never compared the two on the same web
pages. I am keeping 4.7 for testing my webpages in the future, and
also because I noticed that it prints map lines better (I use that for
going to new places) than 7.0.

 

[tlshell]

From a security POV alone, you're missing out on a number of
vulnerabilitity fixes, primarily with Java Script, but there are
others. It's a very good idea, IMO, to stick with the latest versions
and Moz builds.

It's not hard to avoid security issues, just turn off javascript
except where absolutely needed on trusted sites and have a good
firewall and virus detectors.

 

[DC]

Add one more vote for Mozilla (suite) or Firebird (browser only).

Remember to check out K-Meleon, a really nice browser based on
Mozilla source code. It's small, fast and get's the job done.
[/QUOTE]

No thanks.

 

[Christopher Jahn]

As far as I know, only the style sheet stuff. Some pages
you'll notice are all lined up on the left and stretched
out, those are done with style sheets, which NS 4.7 can't
show properly. As far as content goes, it's hard to say as
I've never compared the two on the same web pages. I am
keeping 4.7 for testing my webpages in the future, and also
because I noticed that it prints map lines better (I use
that for going to new places) than 7.0.

7.1 fixes a lot of the problems found in 7.0.