down but not out!

Netscape 7 has materialized. I watched somebody try to install it, and it crashed after trying to force support of AOL’s ART format and RealPlayer onto him. Bad first impressions.

 

16 thoughts on “down but not out!

  1. Also notice the version number thomfoolery. Netscape skipped version 5 alltogether, and it seems version 6 was just a temporary stop-over on the way to 7. The is the biggest version number fiasco since Microsoft Word too the fantastic leap from 2.0 straight to 6.0.

  2. My first experience with the phenom was Slackware jumping from 3.x (I think) to 7,.. and they stayed there for a long time.

  3. It changed my winamp skin without asking me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    egahd!

  4. Installed it today…didnt see much difference in it(other then more graphic intensive and bigger) then 6 6.2 etc…When will netscape learn.

  5. For those interested in the progress of Mozilla (Netscape’s open source project), checkout Blogzilla, a fine looking weblog.

  6. Installed it last night and didn’t notice too much more, although speed did seem to be better [not starting up (still crazy slow) but during use].

    I use Netscape purely to test compatibility (web developer), and I still want NS4x to die. However, I am not too depressed about Netscape 6.22 (current released version, I believe). I still hate it, but at least it’s starting to display everything closer to IE. I still have constant XHTML problems and JavaScript problems, but it’s not the end of the world.

    I think Netscape should stop allowing download access to versions under 6. Granted, the older “Communicator” versions are hard to find on the site, but they’re there none the less.

    Hopefully NS7 will continue to get faster and closer to correct standards compliance.

    Oh, and biggest jump in software history: Windows 3.1 to Windows 95. 91.9 build jump? That’s nuts…

  7. Garrett: You suggest that Netscape “stop allowing download access to versions under 6”. I disagree. They should stop promoting versions under 6, and maybe move the downloads to a developer site – but they should not remove them for download. This just makes life difficult for web developers who need to test multiple browsers – testing IE4, 5.5, and 6 is a terrible pain. As much as I hate Netscape, I’ve always like that they have the every version of the program available for download in their Product Archive.

  8. Garrett said:

    Oh, and biggest jump in software history: Windows 3.1 to Windows 95. 91.9 build jump? That’s nuts…

    What about Windows 98 to Windows 2000? 1902 build jump! Rob wins!

  9. maybe I just haven’t used Netscape for a long time, but the new version is really growing on me! Think it might be the new tabbed browsing function…

  10. Somebody still uses Netscape? I thought we were all on the Mozilla train (I’m rocking 1.0 rc3, it’s great!)

  11. Sorry for the long delay in repsonse… forgot I posted.

    Steven: You’re right, and I seem to have overlooked this. Figures that I didn’t think about this, yet I’ve downloaded older versions many times specifically for testing.

    Now you’ve got me thinking–rather than allowing anyone access to these older versions, perhaps they could make you register as a developer (this would be free) to download legacy versions. I know it doesn’t seem like this would stop people from downloading, but I know you know (as well as I) that many times a simple forced registration will separate those who need from those who simply want. Perhaps this would help avoid Sally Simpleton from getting her hands on NS4.x?

    Oh, and Rob: damn you, you’re right!

  12. Figures… hopefully one day I’ll also learn how to read and interpret English as well. I just noticed you mentioned a “developer section” idea as well. My fault (That’s what, 3 strikes against me now? Crapo).

  13. I just installed Netscape 7 this week. It took me almost a whole day to do it as the installation kept stalling. But now that I am using it I find its a big improvement. My biggest grouse in previous versions (6xx and 4xx) was incompatability with Java, with my computer having to be restarted repeatedly when Java Script was activated. This does not happen with 7.

    I need help for one problem. I have totally lost my 6.2 Inbox since I installed 7. I am using my previous 4.79 Inbox as a substitute but would really like to know where the other (current) one went.

  14. I have just installed v3.7 of mybraindoesnotworkware and its totally fried my PC. I would also like to add that I did’nt realise that in the world cup of software microsoft won (a long time ago)…

    Ah well going to zip up my anorak right to the inside of my nasal cavity
    sling the “I love .NET” promotional item over my shoulder and re-join the world of boring…

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