Netscape 6 Preview available

[happyhamster]

Well, netscape is finally getting somewhere. First preview version can be downloaded from http://www.netscape.com/download/previewrelease.html?cp=dowsea
It's definitely beta quality, not ready for regular users, but still. It's a little bit more polished than the version that leaked a week ago.

[jad1097]

This is truly buggy! You must let a page fully load before clicking any links or it stops responding. Tried six or seven times before I got here.

How ever I do like it much better than 4.72 http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif The layout is much nicer and it is pretty fast also. It does seem to have some problems loading banners.
It also did not seem to import all my favorites, just P-Y?

Thanks for the link HH.

I fixed the imported faveorites by orginizeing them in IE5, seem netscape 6 checks them when you start it.


[This message has been edited by jad1097 (edited 04-05-2000).]

[drojman]

did anyone watch the steve case speech today? he said it will be available for download today. They say microsoft is a monopoly, here is a guy who's company now owns the majority of communication methods, who with a flip of a switch can change anything he wants.. ref: All the new gateway internet appliances announced are designed with a special netscape in them, and work with a special version of Aol to access the net. so if you want one, it has to be aol or nothing.
I hate aol.. they should make em that use any isp etc...

[jad1097]

It seems you are right it is not there in 4.72?
I have always had it in IE5 so I just assumed that it was there in Netscape , excuse me while I insert my foot into my mouth.


I don't think you can disable the import feature. I think when you install it if you choose to do a custom install it has an option to not install it, I may be wrong though.

[daveleau]

I'm not going to try it until they release the real version but I do like that the search is powered by google.
Dave

[dkozloski]

It seemed very slow to me and some familiar web pages looked totally wacky. I'd say the HTML implementation needed some work.

[mgordon99]

I think they have a little refining to do on this browser. Radio buttons look weird. I could not get my listing of newsgroups in the mail program.

Takes forever and a day to open.

I do like the look and speed, this browser has great potential. I am writing this post in the new browser, the left margin does not seem to line up properly sometimes.

http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[happyhamster]

Ok, after playing around with it some more things to clear up:

- The darn thing is so customizable it's scary. It supports skins natively. But under "skins" it means not only the look, but the feel as well. All menus, buttons, toolbars and lots more is configurable through xml and javascript(?). This incredible customization will allow companies to create their own original looks, like browsers for newbies(with 1-2 buttons http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif ), kids and disabled. Some skins can be found at http://mozillazine.org/chromezone/ . I was especially recommended Sullivan and Athrodite.

- It is buggy in UI, but in fact it is more standard-compliant than IE. If some sites look weird, you can say that it's the sites that are buggy(not compliant).

[jad1097]

Here goes a few screen shots (http://members.home.net/jad1097/ns6pg1.htm) for those that do not want to bother with it for now.

[Susan]

I'm checking it out now and it seems to be slow to me. Also, when I click on the bookmark button, it does a floppy seek.

Interesting - there's a separate scroll box underneath the reply box with the other replies there.

[jad1097]

And it only took you 1035 posts to see it.J/K

It took me a while to discover it also.

[Apostle 83]

Anyone know how to 'ungroup' the ie favorites?

[jad1097]

I don't think you can. Well what do you mean by ungroup? You will have to edit/organize them in IE. I just had to put them in the folders where they should have gone in the first place.

[Apostle 83]

Ok, they are in an "IE% imports folder"
any way to get rid of that folder? You know, so that the subfolders are no longer subfolders? I have a TON of folders!

[Susan]

Cute jad http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif, but I don't think you understood what I meant.

Other replies are in a completely different box (with it's own scroll) within the same page. Something I don't have with 4.7

[socalgal]

Thanks for those screenshots, jad http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

It looks different alright... I think I'll wait for some the of the bugs to be worked out first.. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

My NS 4.61 is still running fine and I'll follow that old adage "If it ain't broke... "

[jadinolf]

I am using Netscape6 right now.

I'm not really impressed.

After waiting so long, I really expected more.

[seti]

...and M$ responds by releasing a preveiw of IE 5.5
http://fileforum.efront.com/detail.php3?fid=942950057

Two days old, but I havn't seen in mentioned. I could be blind though. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[Smokey]

Thanks for the screenshots Jad... it definately looks cool... it should be interesting to see how the release version turns out.

[Titan]

I WAS a big fan of Netscape, now that AOhell owns this, I'm not really surprised by the comments made. They took a decent product and destroyed it. Very unfortunate indeed.

[LuckyTech]

I've found with the new netscape , the back button has a little problem..... It doesn't work sometimes!!!! Buggy... is an understatement windows is buggy http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif this gives a whole new meaning to the word http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[HiEnergy]

I downloaded the beta 6 several days ago and have given it several chances Thanks for the link to this forum i have a feeling i may find the help i need here....
i'm was getting discouraged and was going to write them a nasty gram but think maybe it better i start here. I'm having the same buggy slow problems as others have listed and if they're going to work on it i'll be happy to give them a chance BUT if i wanted an IE look alike..i'd use IE so the changes i see really dont impress me at all.

what agrivates me the most tho, and this is what i need help with is...on the personal tool bar for bookmarks ...i have what i want there in ntscp 4.7 ...it all fits just perfect...now with beta6 it puts in its own bookmarks on my persoanl tool bar and crowds what i want there out somewhere in obblivia....i cant seem to find a way to get rid of theirs. All it tells me to do is to "edit my bookmarks" yet their defaults do not appear on that list to remove. PLEASE HELP i'm a netscape lover from way back and will probably give it more of a chance if i can edit this specifically...LOL meaning i can put up and edit it away from the IE look...but this one default toolbar bookmark feature really irks me AAAUUUGGGHHH
hope someone's found a way to get around this..i'll be looking for a response. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[wyvrn]

LuckyTech:

I have had the same back button problem in IE 4.0. Have not been able to duplicate it in IE 5.o yet. Interesting.

[jad1097]

I don't think it looks like IE. I acutaly like the layout much better than IE or Netscape 4.7.

I really like the idea that it is so customizable, thanks HH.

Independentmind, I liked your reveiw http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

I think the reason they released it so soon it because it is open source and it will allow many people to tweak it, I mean fix the bugs for them.

[happyhamster]

HiEnergy,
Apparently there’s no easy consistent way to modify NS entries in the toolbar. So far I’ve figured out that it’s scattered over several files. It looks like pretty lame design to me. I’m not sure whether it will be fixed by the final release or it’s another Netscape/AOL attempt to drag users to their sponsors sites(remember Shop button in 4.71). At least I’m under impression that the Net2Phone button cost that company a fortune. Anyway, here’s what I can suggest to easy your pain:

- from the main NS directory, browse to \chrome\navigator\content\ subdirectory, and rename overlays.rdf to overlays.rdf.bak and restart NS. It will remove My Netscape and Net2Phone.

- Somewhere on your HD, most likely under Program Files, should be directory Users50. There, in “default\” subdirectory, find bookmarks.html file and edit it to remove Personal Toolbar Forder. Restart NS. It should get rid of “Customize…” button.

I haven’t been able to locate where Bookmarks and Home are defined. I suspect it’s in \chrome\navigator\content\default\navigator.xul in PersonalToolbar section, but I get a headache just from looking at the code there.

This is NS-only trouble. In Mozilla, there’s normally toolbar.xul file, which you can edit to your heart’s content.

Personally, I don’t see a reason to use Netscape anymore. I think it died when bought by AOL. I have no intentions to support that company, and will stick to Mozilla.

Lastly, it’s pre-beta with all implications in bugs and stability. Obviously, the vast majority of bugs will be fixed in final version. Oh, and nobody can beat M$ as a Bug King. Some builds of IE4 prerelease(not prebeta) crashed some configurations of windows behind repairability. At least NS has always tried to stay away from system files.

[noresull]

It isn't compatible with my intellieye internet explorer mouse, the auto scroll, back and forward buttons don't work!

Oh well, I like the look though! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[slowlearner]

i have always used netscape but this version is the worst yet first i cant copy and paste off the location bar and where is my save as bookmarks and import bookmarks also if i dont want to keep ver6 it dont have a uninstall,and lastly it dont support java i run programes that now says (windows not supported please refer to the faq)
poor job netscape

[Independentmind]

I am new here but check out my review via www.epinions.com (http://www.epinions.com) . My username is erqbybn. Rumor has it that they made a mistake in putting a Beta out this soon and the product is so terrible it should still be Alpha. What do you all think about this?

[HiEnergy]

thanks happyhapmster, i doubt if i'll go to all that trouble, i'm not "THAT" into it hehe. I did switch to IE a while ago but only came back to NS cuz i liked the for the website designer stuff better, and the fact that i'd get "differnt" error messages instead of the same one all the time in IE http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif yeah i know silly reason, but it made me feel a little better to have a different explaination as to why i was locking up or not getting thru hehe.

i did notice they both crash about the same amount so looks and simplicity of whats on my screen was another determing factor and now that NS has successfully cluttered all that up with buttons and gizmo's and aggrivating garbage i dont care to have in front of me all the time...(sigh) i agree it is a headache trying to rid and customize to my liking.

And i'm used to beta programs, which is why i went ahead and gave it a shot, but geezz i forgot about the AOL thing and omg...how does one decide between aohell or M$? hahaha

thanks
HiE!

[Joel Kleppinger]

First, keep in mind this is a "preview," not even an official beta yet. It'd be the same thing as a late alpha.

Also, don't judge a book by its cover. Expect hundreds of skins (maybe you've seen winamp? http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif) for it. Here's the ones that are beginning... http://www.mozillazine.org/chromezone/
I personally like the Hoopy Frood skin the best though I can see why some people would like the sullivan skin (Mac-based style).

Here's also a just-published article about mozilla skinnability: http://www.mozillazine.org/articles/article1333.html

Keep in mind that XUL (the language to declare widgets and their use) is also in beta. Because of this, most skin developers are just "messing around." When XUL is finalized (I think that is M16), expect to start seeing an onslaught of new skins.

In the Hoopy Frood skin description, the author has added a feature that might help Personal Toolbar organization:
I added on a neat (useful? who knows) feature for changing the folder that is used for the Personal Toolbar folder... other than that it's just a skin.

Right now, what Netscape is allowing people to preview is how Mozilla will be used in their browser and its general capabilities. But there are still a lot of things to be added and ironed out.

(Yes, I'm a diehard Netscape user. I hate IE's integration with Explorer - a browser SHOULD be seperate from the core OS. I'm still using Netscape Navigator 4.08, and keep praying for the day Mozilla is stable and functional enough to ditch 4.08 for).

[Joel Kleppinger]

Here's an excellent discussion on how the browser looks and should look.
http://www.mozillazine.org/talkback.html?article=1333