| Netscape, once the Big Dog of browsers, has recently released the 7.0 version of their Web Browser. I'll be honest with you, I only downloaded Netscape 7 so that I could write an article about it, add it to the site and then go on using Internet Explorer 5. Now that I've used it for a couple of hours, it is really starting to grow on me.
Late Night : I downloaded Netscape 7 a couple of days ago, but because of a busy schedule, it sat in my download folder. Last night (around 1am) I was about to go to bed when I started to clean up my download folder and saw the Netscape 7 installer. I thought about trashing it but decided to install it and then take a quick look at it before going to bed. An hour later I was still playing around with the new features and thinking to myself…"I like this."
First Impression : Initially, I wasn't real thrilled with Netscape. The first time you launch Netscape 7 you are asked to either input or create a username and password, to log in to the Netscape Network. You only have to do this the first time you run the application. Luckily, if you have an AOL Instant Messenger account then you can use the username and password from it. There are also a host of other usernames and passwords that you can use (AOL, Compuserve 2000, and Netscape Messenger). note - You cannot log in with your .Mac account username and password. Once logged in initially, you can use it for the built-in Instant Messaging Client.
The start up of the application seemed slow, but subsequent start ups proved that the start up time is only slightly slower than Internet Explorer 5.2.1. The lag in start up may be due to the log in of the AIM client (which can be turned off).
New Features : The first thing you will notice is the color. Netscape does not use the standard MacOS X color scheme for this browser. The browser color is a grey but can be changed to a MacOS X theme called classic. There are also a number of themes available for download.
Tabbed Browsing - This is my favorite feature. As an alternative to opening multiple windows, Netscape 7 allows you to keep multiple web sites open as tabs in the main window (see tabbed browsing image ). This makes switching between web sites as easy as clicking on a tab. I know that this does not sound revolutionary but, in use it feels like a revolutionary change.
Sidebar - (image 1b below right) The Sidebar is similar to the Tabs along the left hand side of IE that allow quick access to your Favorites, History, Search, Scrapbook and Pageholder. In Netscape you have access to some of the same things like search and bookmarks. In addition to those two, you also have access to News, Sports, Stock Quotes, Directions, Netscape Channels, Movies & Music and your Buddy List. I think this makes the Netscape 7 Sidebar a more functional use of space than the IE Tabs. The sidebar can also be hidden if you are concerned about wasted space.
Buddy List - Having the most popular IM client (AOL Instant Messenger) built into the browser is a great move. I've yet to use it so I don't know of any incompatibilities or shortcomings but, in theory, it seems like a good move to me because most people open their IM client and their browser when they connect to the internet. Netscape 7 opens both and can be set to log you in to AIM automatically.
Handling Cookies - I think that Internet Explorer does an excellent job of providing access to cookies (click here to see how you access cookies in IE Mac | Win ). Especially when compared to the Windows Version of IE. Netscape also does an excellent job with cookies and makes it a little easier to access them.
When you come to a page that has a cookie , an icon in the status bar is displayed. Clicking on this icon (image right) allows you quick access to that cookie and the cookie manager (image 1c). Using the cookie manager you can view and remove cookies as well as change the way your browser handles cookies. This is very similar to the cookie manager in IE but I think access to it is more readily available.
1c - Cookie Manager window
Search - The search feature in the Netscape Sidebar is very similar to the Search feature found in the IE Search tab. Each allows you to specify the search engine that you would like to use for your searches. This big difference between the two is that in Netscape, you can set it to use Google. While the IE search tab offers many search engines, Google is not one of them.
Final Thoughts : When trying any new application, you really want to judge it on its own merit and not compare it to similar applications. When it comes to browsers, forget that. For most of us, the browser is the most often used application that we have, so it is silly not to compare it to what we are used to. In using the Netscape browser I see a browser that leaves nothing to be desired and makes me wonder why IE hasn't included some of the features available in Netscape 7. Maybe a renewed competition will force Microsoft's hand and lead to a better browser for all of us. Or, is it already here in the form of Netscape 7?
Update : Kill Pop Up Windows - There is a hack available that restores Pop Up window blocking in Netscape 7. Here's How :
- Follow this link [will open in new window]
- Click on "Click here to restore pop up window blocking" link.
- Allow the installer to run
- Quit Netscape 7
- Restart Netscape 7.
- To verify that the change has been made, go to the preferences menu and click on the arrow next to Advanced.
- Click on "Scripts and Plugins" You should see an option that reads "Open unrequested windows." This option should not be checked. (Kill Pop-Up's in Netscape Image)
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