Why hasn't netscape disappeared

Netscape 6.2 is quite a good browser. Not as good as Opera, or Mozilla on which it is based, but certainly a viable alternative to IE. You should also be aware that NS is owned by AOL. Now, AOL has a contract with MS so they can't distribute NS as part of their online service. However, when that contract finishes AOL could decide to use its own product we could se a large resurgance of NS usage. (Sidenote - Sympatico, one of the largest ISP's in Canada, seems to be distributing NS 6.x now - they are using it in their TV commercials).

The main reason why I think NS 4.x is still around is because some people are just happy with the same thing they've always used. This includes individuals (like Busy ) and a lot of schools, governments, libraries etc. At least where I come from - I've never heard of a school or government agency in Canada that didn't use NS exclusively. Most of these longtime users probably don't see any reason to swtich Really, from a casual user's perspective NS doesn't suck - especially if you haven't tried anything else. I really don't know what's up with the tech support guys who still insist on NS 4.x (although they tend to be very concerned with security, but I don't know why NS 4.x would be better in that department than the newer alternatives).

I think that Mozilla (which is essentially Navigator) is much better than IE, it just "feels" better to use.

It doesn't seem to like these forums too much though..had to move over to IE the last time I tried to post..

The problem I have with Netscape though, is the Mail program. I just don't like it (Or maby its just I can't be bothered to move all my e-mail accounts over )

hth,
Douglas

I think that's one of the issues -- I have several years of business and personal email in NS4.x for multiple websites, and don't want to (or can't move) it.

As well, the NS email program does not have the security problems that Outlook/Outlook Express currently have; to my understanding, they both use IE to render html email and so are easily "nailed" by viruses targeting Outlook. But I've received dozens of virus-laden emails in NS, opened them and even viewed source without the virus actually infecting my computer.

As well, NS 4.x is good for cross-browser checking of websites. The issue, at least to me, is not so much that IE has its own proprietary bells and whistles, or that NS 4.x is not so up-to-date on HTML standards which could be implemented, but that the HTML code needs to be pretty much correct for it to render properly (although I've found that this is not altogether true). Not to mention that, as far as I've been able to tell, NS 4.x is all that Yahoo reviewers use.

However, for general surfing, I've switched over to Opera, which is much faster.

Quote: Originally posted by DianeV
As well, the NS email program does not have the security problems that Outlook/Outlook Express currently have; to my understanding, they both use IE to render html email and so are easily "nailed" by viruses targeting Outlook.

Yes, OE has been a big no-no in every office I've worked in

Quote: Originally posted by DianeV

However, for general surfing, I've switched over to Opera, which is much faster.

Go Opera!

I still use IE4.+ too. I don't know if it is worthwhile upgrading to a newer version.

Quote: why can't microsoft just buy it out and have a breed of the two browsers so people won't have to choose.

Why would they do that. As IE has over 80% market share now (soemthing like that) for browsers, why do they need to buy Netscape, which is dead? If there were a lot of people using it, then it would make sense to buy a rival. Netscape at this point has no value. It is on life support despite the new version because only a few people are using it.

Quote: people won't have to choose.

Well, that was the plan - now it is not anymore of "won't have to choose" but more like "can't choose". I know there is opera and all that stuff. But Microsoft did what they wanted to do - kill Netscape.

Quote: posted by jag5311
With all the problems netscape has

I would love to hear some of these problems, i have Netscape 4.7 and 6, problem i have with 6 is i cant ctrl c/v into the address bar, thats about it.
I also have IE5.5, problems with that - i havent got enough room to list them all, but a couple are, always locks up and crashes, doesnt display colors right, allows very sloppy html coding (this is a big problem), very insercure etc etc.
I also have Opera6, this is a good browser, way better than IE, better than NS6 but not as good as NS4.7 (to me).

Someone also mentioned Netscape is dead, just wait, since Micorosft lost the court ruling that allows them to have complete control over new PC (forgot what is called), when MS only products are on new PC's, well now it will be the PC makers who decide what goes on. (lack of coffee), anyway I'm willing to bet Microsofts share in the maket drops, Opera and Netscape will take over the market, and as for operating systems, linux, apache etc have already proven they are more secure than MS, note red alert worm which already lost microsoft many customers.

why do people hate netscape?
because people who play with html are to lazy to close tags properly
it loads slower than IE (ie loads on start up, so of cause its faster)
netscape locks up and crashs, when and why does it do this, my bet is peoples bad coding for IE (not netscape fault)
etc etc

have a look at coders, a netscape coder writes html out once, and 90% of the time it works the same in IE, IE coders write the code and checks on NS and has to recode it 90% of the time, dont blame the product, blame the person coding for it.

whats this: cool mangot me a web page ? IE would probably display a table with the contents in it, NS wouldnt display anything, why? because its not coded right.

I'm not bashing IE, I am using IE now, I like using all browsers but if i ws to have only one, my pick would be Netscape, no question.

Quote: Someone also mentioned Netscape is dead

Quote: why do people hate netscape?

Ok, I did not say that because I hate Netscape. I said that strictly from the business standpoint. For all practical purposes Netscape is dead as far as I am concerned. AOL has had a couple of years now, and in this period they have only lost additional market share. I don't think they are concerned about it and based on what I have seen so far, I don't think there is much future for it. Things could have been different if AOL had started using Netscape instead of IE.

Actually, until about last year I used Netscape and then I got fed up with all the errors and crashes. I also had to reinstall all software and at that point I started using IE and I like it. As a designer, I have to design sites more for IE than for Netscape as today Netscape has such a small market share. That is why I did not go back to Netscape. I really hated IE until version 4.+ but then Netscape started lagging far behind. Both are free and if I don't have to spend a lot of time desinging sites for browers, I don't really care.

I wish Netscape was better and I wish they had retained their market share but....

I am not browser guru by any means, but from my talks with the SIC forum, many of the users on that forum went and look at their stats from individuals who have visited their sites, and they found that 75% + were using IE, and only like 15% or less wereusing Netscape. This same fact came from like 6 different people. And some of these people get like 15,000 uniques a day. I know you mentioned the fact of alot of people coding wrong, and i am pretty sure my site is coded wrong, hell i use dreamweaver to create my site(s), and it shows up messed up on the mac computer i am currently using. My site, gamecubecheats.net has a white background when i view it from this computer i am on now (in a school lab, not my real computer) and the background is suppose to be black. But what i am getting at is IE is much more forgiving then Netscape, which is a good thing, because i am sure there are millions and millions of webpages like mine that are not coded write, so we need something:) j/k. I have just found with netscape, that if you don't have the latest version, you can't see dhtml effects, some, some java, ect.. And that is a bummer for me. I haven't use Opera, is it free? sounds good from what ppl talk about.. Just my 2 cents in my own thread:)

Coding for Netscape is not that difficult. You just have to know what works and what doesn't. Somethings like cells left empty instead of   will collapse and give undesirable results. Other things like cellspacing, not closing tags, extra tags cause problems with NS.

There are a lot of people that build a website using IE only at one resolution and think they have built a superb site. NS, Opera, Mozilla are needed for three reasons. One is that they are not Microsoft. Some OS's like Linux there is no IE. Another reason is to get people to code correctly. Some search engines won't index your page if there are a lot of errors. Also some of the new X-stuff (XML, etc.) are much more strict about coding correctly. The third reason is that with each new version of IE, it becomes quite less secure. Being tied in so strongly with the OS doesn't help at all either.

If you say only 15% of the people use NS, that is still a high percentage. I am still not convinced that some of crashes with Netscape are Netscape problems or problems that MS has helped develop to ensure market dominance. After all this is the same company that tried to exclude all browsers but IE from MSN for a couple of days until the public outcry.

Quote: Originally posted by jag5311
I am not browser guru by any means, but from my talks with the SIC forum, many of the users on that forum went and look at their stats from individuals who have visited their sites, and they found that 75% + were using IE, and only like 15% or less wereusing Netscape. This same fact came from like 6 different people.

This can vary *a lot* depending on your audience. I've seen anywhere from 5% to 50% Take a look at this thread for example.

Quote: Originally posted by jag5311
I haven't use Opera, is it free? sounds good from what ppl talk about..

It's amazing. Give it a try. The free version does have a banner add at the top, which I find not to be annoying at all and it is totally worth it. Opera is so much more customizable than any other browsers. It's designed more for the serious internet user rather than the newbie. Check out this thread for more details