Netscape is history

[DoctorDoom]

AOL's focus on transitioning to an ad-supported web business leaves little room for the size of investment needed to get the Netscape browser to a point many of its fans expect it to be. Given AOL's current business focus and the success the Mozilla Foundation has had in developing critically-acclaimed products, we feel it's the right time to end development of Netscape branded browsers, hand the reins fully to Mozilla and encourage Netscape users to adopt Firefox.

Q: What will this mean?
A: We'll continue to release security patches for the current version of the browser, Netscape Navigator until February 1, 2008. After February 1, there will be no more active product support for Navigator 9, or any previous Netscape Navigator browser. This includes Netscape v1-v4.x, Netscape v6, Netscape v7 Suite, Netscape Browser v8, and Netscape Navigator/Messenger 9.End of Support for Netscape web browsers (http://blog.netscape.com/2007/12/28/end-of-support-for-netscape-web-browsers/)

MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

The handwriting was on the wall. When AOL bought it, it was doomed.

[ThomasMore]

Netscape Navigator was a great browser in its time.

Bill Gates, demonstrating all the ethics of a Chinese government official, reverse-engineered it and included it in Windows as "Internet Explorer"...while making sure that Navigator wouldn't run well on Windows.

Typical Gates M.O. I don't want to deny Gates the right to sell software, but his business model is not to invent his own better products, but to copy others' and use his bundling power to destroy them.

The computer I am writing this from will be my last Windows platform -- I would rather overpay with Apple next time. Screw Gates.

[Elgalad]

You said it, Doc.

Gonna mourn its passing though.. if not for the original Navigator browser and its continued 'upstart' competition against Microsoft's attempted monopoly on internet browsing, we'd never have its clone today.

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/8652/logo20do20firefoxkv1.jpg

And I just love my Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/). :D


-Elgalad

[DoctorDoom]

I have IE, FF and Opera on this box. Opera is my choice except for the sites that look like schitte in it because of cruddy, amateurish code.

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

Do you have to pay for FireFox?

[MSGT]

Do you have to pay for FireFox?

no

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

[DesertFox]

Dang. All these years I've used Netscape because it's just better than IE, which I used for years while resisting Netscape.

[Suzie]

I thought it was gone a long time ago. :lol: I use firefox too.

[ThomasMore]

Homes, here is the link to FIREFOX (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/). It is a free download, from Mozilla.

I'm another big Firefox fan. IE7 now copies some of Firefox's best features.

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

Thanks for the linkie, y'all. I'm now officially a FireFoxer. Going to take a little bit to get used to it though. How do you get the tabs to stay up on the bar? After dumping AOL, I was using IE and Opera, but for some reason I can't seem to access stuff as well on Opera, so I kept resorting to IE :sad:. Of course, in doing so, I got accustomed to the tabbed browsing, and now I can't get my multiple home-pages (had my e-mail provider and Free Conservatives as my homepages) to show up. I did an import of my IE settings too.

Guess I'll just have to play with it.

EDIT: And every time I submit something on FC, I get this message too:

The information you have entered is to be sent over an unencrypted connection and could easily be read by a third party.

Are you sure you want to continue sending this information.

[ ] Alert me whenever I submit information that's not encrypted.

Continue Cancel

[ThomasMore]

EDIT: And every time I submit something on FC, I get this message too:

The information you have entered is to be sent over an unencrypted connection and could easily be read by a third party.

Are you sure you want to continue sending this information.

[ ] Alert me whenever I submit information that's not encrypted.

Continue Cancel

Standard internet warning. I get it once in awhile, too. The same is true for IE7, even if IE7 doesn't warn you.

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

Standard internet warning. I get it once in awhile, too. The same is true for IE7, even if IE7 doesn't warn you.

But is there a way to get rid of the warning? It pops up EVERY time I submit a post, or try to edit one of my previous ones!

[Suzie]

[ ] Alert me whenever I submit information that's not encrypted.

Uncheck that little box.

[Beowulf]

For the longest time, I used IE with a skin from Slimbrowser. Now, with my new computer, I've been using Firefox.

[DoctorDoom]

... for some reason I can't seem to access stuff as well on Opera ...Opera is written for Web pages that are compliant with W3C standards, ergo it may have trouble with non-standard (or just plain crappy) code. IE will display them properly because it's written with enormous tolerance for the labors of incompetent page authors.

[Timberwolf]

Well, I'm finally giving Firefox a try....so far, I don't notice much difference between it and IE7, except it seems to be slower (but, not by much).

[DoctorDoom]

I installed IE7 as an "upgrade". It was far slower than IE6 and invariably disabled printing in IE and Outlook Express. I found no reason to tolerate that crap for tabbed browsing, when FF and Opera have had it for years. Ergo, I uninstalled it, Windows restored IE6, and I've not been tempted to try again.

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

I don't notice much difference between it and IE7, except it seems to be slower (but, not by much).

So funny, Timber ... I installed FireFox today, and it's actually faster than my IE! I mean MUCH faster! I couldn't be happier now that I've switched ... as I said, I just gotta get used to the differences, but I was already trying to get used to the differences of switching from AOL to IE, so while I'm in the "getting-used-to-it" mood, I might as well have something worth getting used to, :smirky: . (Did that make any sense? LOL)

[ColonialMarine0431]

I installed IE7 as an "upgrade". It was far slower than IE6 and invariably disabled printing in IE and Outlook Express. I found no reason to tolerate that crap for tabbed browsing, when FF and Opera have had it for years. Ergo, I uninstalled it, Windows restored IE6, and I've not been tempted to try again.

I disabled that tabbed browsing nonsense along time ago. I'm still on IE7, and it took some getting used to. One day I'm gonna have to try Firefox.

[DesertFox]

Wow. I just installed the free Firefox and am using it now. It IS fast. Faster than Netscape, which was faster than IE6. Took about three minutes to download and set up and import and get back to FreeCon.

Ah'm 'pressed.

[namvet527]

Netscape Navigator was a great browser in its time.

The computer I am writing this from will be my last Windows platform -- I would rather overpay with Apple next time. Screw Gates.

Where is all the apple software? No body makes software for apple. I understand it is a great desktop publishing s/w but that's about it. I am an architect that uses AutoCAD & other CAD s/w. They don't make them for apple.

I worked at Fairchild then sold to Siemens in Mt. View, CA. right across the parking lot from Netscape HQ. I also live near Apple in Cupertino, CA. Both of these towns are located in Silicon Valley aka Santa Clara Valley.

[DoctorDoom]

Where is all the apple software? No body makes software for apple.Software developers go where the profit is. Macs are a niche market and that won't pay the bills. Windows is where the action is. What Macs are designed to do, they do very well, but the customer base isn't big enough to warrant Mac divisions in most software companies.

Re reliability, Macs use the same hardware (hard drives, video cards, etc.) as Wintel boxes, ergo they are no more reliable.

The superiority of the Macs is largely Mad Avenue spin.

And one other factor renders Macs uncommon. If a person wants a Wintel box, he can buy from Dell, HP, Gateway, eMachines, Alienware, Sony, Acer, Systemax, IBM, et al, or he can buy the components and build his own (my choice). If a person wants a Mac, he can buy a ...... Mac.

Apple's "We want the action all to ourselves!" attitude limits the market. Most people have no interest in spending $2500 (minimum for a Mac Pro) when for that amount of cash they can get a kick-ass Wintel box, a big monitor, a wall-shaking multimedia system and a lot of peripherals.

Macs are aimed at a small market of professionals who make their living with Photoshop or other programs that Macs run very well, and to whom price is no object; and at the cult of elitist Macophiles who have them purely because they are status symbols.

If I had something to do that required a Mac, I'd own a Mac. But I cannot conceive of anything that I want to do that this 5-year old, home-built box won't handle.

[ThomasMore]

Doc, in terms of hardware, I am in complete agreement. A CPU is a CPU (some are better than others, but the processors will run either OS).

I also agree with you about Apple's continued marketing arrogance, and how that limits its market.

Sony made the same mistake in the 1970's with the Betamax (a better videotape system than VHS). In the end, Sony's refusal to share the technology with other manufacturers destroyed the format. The only things that have kept Apple from a similar rout are the Mac's usefulness in the arts, and Apple's clever advertising.

My frustration with Microsoft is (1) the fact that nearly every program Microsoft creates is a bloated, buggy, inferior copy of what third party producers create, and then (2) Microsoft's lawful, but nasty marketing practices drive the superior products out of the market. (e.g., Netscape Navigator, WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3 and Borland Quattro Pro, etc. Windows itself was originally an inferior knock-off of the MacIntosh GUI)

There is only so much software that will run on Mac, and everything is overpriced. But the OS is cleaner than any Windows version. Honestly, if I had better tech skills and knew I could get the required applications covered, I would try playing with Linux.

I just don't want any more of my money to go to the SOB, Gates, that is.

[DesertFox]

WordPerfect never was better than Word, though. For my money Word's been the best on the market since it arrived.

[DoctorDoom]

But the OS is cleaner than any Windows version.Windows could be half of its present size and far more stable if it didn't have to compensate for incompetent users. MS, being the major player, is faced with the truth of the adage, "Anything can be made foolproof, but nothing can be made idiotproof."

Macs' advantage is that they are costly enough that they're not given as Christmas and birthday presents to folks whose idea of computing is MySpace and IM. Therefore they don't have to include as much extra code to deal with clueless operators.

That having been said, MS made what appears to have been a major boner with Vista, which has not been warmly received by computer pros and geeks. It's huge, it's slower than XP, it's all but unusable on older machines, it won't run many programs, etcetera. Corporations refuse to upgrade their systems to it. Dell is still installing XP on some machines because customers didn't want Vista. MS is working on Service Pack 3 for XP, incorporating some Vista features.

I don't particularly love MS, but the fact is that it dominates the computer world, and it's the de facto standard setter. This most likely won't change for several years.

I just don't want any more of my money to go to the SOB, Gates, that is.Gates retired.

[DesertFox]

The US Army refuses to buy any computer with Vista on it. It's sticking with XP and I'm glad.

[Suzie]

I just don't want any more of my money to go to the SOB, Gates, that is.

Al Gore (http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2003/mar/19gore.html) is better? :lol:

[DesertFox]

I don't "love" Gates, but neither do I hate him. He's the one who made it possible for me to sit in my living room and share views with like minds spread all over America and even overseas. Computers have changed my life, and it wasn't that snotbox techhead Jobs who made it happen -- Gates did.

[gnome]

Some extensions I highly recommend:

Adblock
Adblock Filterset.G Updater

(these work in tandem to block many popups and banner ads)

IE Tab

(this will allow you to designate certain pages to run in IE, embedded into a Firefox tab -- good for pages that don't play nice with Firefox)

I gave up Netscape when they merged with AOL, and moved to Mozilla, and then Firefox.

[Naturalized-Texan]

I also agree with you about Apple's continued marketing arrogance, and how that limits its market.st don't want any more of my money to go to the SOB, Gates, that is.
If IBM (the company from which I retired) had been as arrogant as Apple and had made the original PC using proprietary products - its own operating system, its own chips, its own proprietary software, etc. - the PC would have been unlikely to have found the widespread use that it now enjoys and that we now enjoy. As it was, IBM made the decision to market an open system with off-the-shelf products that made the PC relatively inexpensive to purchase and the rest, as they say, is history.

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

WordPerfect never was better than Word, though. For my money Word's been the best on the market since it arrived.

I agree, I HATED WordPerfect!

[mkafrica]

Technically, I'm not allowed to have Firefox on my computer at work... but... since they allowed me to download and install it... well... :D

However, I installed a skin on it, so it looks just like IE6. That way no one can tell the difference, and I'm not getting in trouble. (I'm much too small of a fry for them to check the software on the computer)

As far as Macs go... some of you already know I'm a mac fan... But I won't go back into that on this thread, lol.

On my Mac, I like both Safari and Firefox. They now have Safari for Windows, but I don't know how good it really is on Windows, because I've never tried it.

[ThomasMore]

WordPerfect never was better than Word, though. For my money Word's been the best on the market since it arrived.

I remember WordPerfect from the DOS days (before there was a Microsoft Word.) When the first version of MS Word came out, it was almost a complete copy of WP -- and it was bundled with the then-new Windows. Later versions of WP never ran that well on Windows.

Gee. I wonder why.

I don't "love" Gates, but neither do I hate him. He's the one who made it possible for me to sit in my living room and share views with like minds spread all over America and even overseas. Computers have changed my life, and it wasn't that snotbox techhead Jobs who made it happen -- Gates did.

My problem with Gates is not that he wrote software that made home and small-business computing affordable and accessible -- if that was all there was to it, I would say that Gates is a hero of the 20th Century.

Gates bought DOS from another programmer, then marketed it. Fine. It also explains why DOS was a pretty good program for its time.

What Gates did that offends me that he didn't just want Microsoft on every desktop, he wanted ONLY Microsoft on every desktop. Other businesses were providing good products which were designed to work with DOS, then with Windows. I listed some of them earlier.

Gates lets other companies develop the software, work out the issues and create the market. Then he reverse-engineers it, includes his version in new computers for free, and tweaks Windows so the competitor's product doesn't run properly. It's legal, but lots of things are legal.

Given the choice between an arrogant snot-nose and somebody who lets others develop products, which he then copies and sets out to destroy the producer, I will take the arrogant snot-nose.

If IBM (the company from which I retired) had been as arrogant as Apple and had made the original PC using proprietary products - its own operating system, its own chips, its own proprietary software, etc. - the PC would have been unlikely to have found the widespread use that it now enjoys and that we now enjoy. As it was, IBM made the decision to market an open system with off-the-shelf products that made the PC relatively inexpensive to purchase and the rest, as they say, is history.

Agreed on all counts, NT. I do not agree with Apple's marketing, and I never have. If it hadn't been for the iPod, Apple would very likely be gone.

[ThomasMore]

Al Gore (http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2003/mar/19gore.html) is better? :lol:

Yech. Well, Bill Gates is still on the BOD at MS.

I should really sit down and learn Linux (http://www.linux.org/info/).

[DoctorDoom]

What Gates did that offends me that he didn't just want Microsoft on every desktop, he wanted ONLY Microsoft on every desktop.That's the cold, harsh world of business. No company selling a product is in business to make its competitor's products successful. The business mindset is, "Be number one, and screw the other guys." Wal*Mart doesn't exist to benefit K-Mart. Ford isn't helping GM. NBC doesn't strive to raise ABC's ratings. The Patriots didn't make life easier for the Cowboys or Giants, or the Red Sox for the Yankees or Rockies.

The free market is cutthroat. Nice giuys don't finish at all. And Microsoft plays the game very well.

And it's not a monopoly, since there are alternatives. Can the same be said for the utility companies? How much choice is there in power, gas, phone and cable suppliers? Yes, there are alternatives to them as well, but if you want to buy and use those specific services, you're stuck with whatever company provides them.

Microsoft's major enemies are the anti-big-business elitists, the "Small is beautiful!" zealots who want to eliminate megacorporations in favor of mom-and-pop companies. Of course they never mention that they drive cars made by Big Auto, use electricity from Big Power to run their computers made by Dell or HP or Apple, and on and on.

I have no love for Microsoft, but its not in business to be loved. It exists to sell its software and hardware, and it is perfectly justified in its quest to be Numero Uno.

[DoctorDoom]

I should really sit down and learn Linux.If you're comfortable with basic surgery on your box, and you have an open 5.25" bay, I'd suggest installing a drive tray assembly. This is the one I use.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v349/DocDoom777/CompTech/KingwinKF101.jpg

With this li'l gem, you can swap hard drives in a minute or two, from the front of the machine. I run XP on the present drive, but I can switch to 98SE in a moment for running old games, etc. And if I want to play with Linux, I'll pop in a drive and load it up. No multiple-boot options, no drive space shared between op systems. It's a geek's heaven.

Give it a thought.

[bannerman]

I own several browsers

Safari is my MAC browser of choice but i also use Firefox.. Camino, Netscape Opera, and the new mozila coded Flock.

all i can say about bill gates is ie ie ie ie

[bannerman]

Where is all the apple software? No body makes software for apple. I understand it is a great desktop publishing s/w but that's about it. I am an architect that uses AutoCAD & other CAD s/w. They don't make them for apple.

I worked at Fairchild then sold to Siemens in Mt. View, CA. right across the parking lot from Netscape HQ. I also live near Apple in Cupertino, CA. Both of these towns are located in Silicon Valley aka Santa Clara Valley.


Sort of off topic

he Autodesk Phone staff expert helpers I have spoken to wereny even aware that one could open two types of autocad files in Adobe Illustrator.

there are likley more APPLE computers per capita in the Bay Area than anywhere else on the world