Netscape Browser 8.1 ROCKS!

[Christianb 8]

Hi Gang,

 

For years I've tried and used browsers either for my own use or for website compatibility testing. Recently I decided to install Netscape 8.1 for kicks and giggles and was blown away. To put it simply, just about everything that has ever annoyed me about another browser this one does correctly:

 

1. Switches between FireFox and IE rendering engines on a domain by domain basis

2. Doesn't just save passwords, but actually clicks on the login button even if the web page (bank) has placed HTML to prevent that from happening.

3. Loads new pages in a new tab 100% of the time

4. Automatically logs into Yahoo, Hotmail, GMail, and Netscape Mail and provides a menu for all your web mail services.

5. Displays the weather along the toolbar without a third party application

6. Provides an easy means to set the rendering preferences for each page (cookies, activeX, popups,etc.)

7. Doesn't display any annoying messages about language encodings I don't speak when I load pages like www.Wikipedia.org.

8. Imports Cookies and bookmarks from other browsers

 

If you haven't already tried it give it a go.

 

For those of you who don't know much about Windows ®, don't use the browser theme that gives a rounded title bar. That'll slow down your browser considerably.

 

 

Cheers,

Christian Blackburn

[Christianb 8]

Sorry my link in the previous post was for their retarted download manager version. Here's the 18MB, full meal-deal for you english speakers: http://ftp.netscape.com/pub/netscape8/english/8.1/windows/win32/nsb-install-8-1.exe.

Here's a couple of installation tips, be sure to select the WinScape theme for performance reasons:

 

Also don't install any of the optional software, especially weatherbug. The weather is displayed automatically in your personal toolbar without weatherbug. Weatherbug is a standalone application that'll only slow your system down.

 

Oh and I'd like to note two things wrong with netscape one of them significant. Mozilla (aka Sea Monkey) is still the only browser with bookmark update notification, that I miss considerably. However, I'm trying Netscape for now. Also like every other browser I've ever used I get a javascript error when i try to open a popup link in a new tab.

[Edited by christianb on 2006-02-14 20:18:28]

 

[Christianb 8]

Another thing this browser does is it detects when a text box contains a common input field like address and displays several options at the top of a page like fill or fill and submit. Very cool stuff.

[Christianb 8]

There are only two problems with this browser, it's bookmarks don't notify you when there are changes, and it freezes up a lot while loading pages. There is no crash when it freezes it just looks like it's doing something, but the progress bar doesn't continue, also windows has no clue that the application has quit responding. The shame of this is AOL just made another browser, why didn't they channel all their programming power into Netscape? Something they should have done ever since they bought the company.