The fact that Netscape 7.0 arrives hot on the heels of the similar but superior Mozilla 1.1 only serves to illuminate the small but significant differences between the two: Mozilla is highly customizable and offers a number of user options (eg. pop-up ad blocking), while Netscape forces users to accept many features and functions (eg. spyware) they probably don’t want while removing some they probably do. Read the article at eWeek. In other browser news, Galeon 2.0 readies and OmniWeb 4.1.1sp2 is released.
Netscape 7.0 Shrivels Under Mozilla’s Shadow
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSAlert.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
They just removed the name mozilla, and the popup blocking part, and just added Netscape’s name to it.
Without Netscape: No Mozilla.
Bitching about Netscape not providing anything that Mozilla doesn’t would be a bit hypocrite.
I would still suggest most users to install Netscape as it’s most probably the most painless experience and all my friends to install Mozilla (or even better Galeon).
Besides for all this ad and popup blocking stuff… If a browser like this would become popular, we would have to find new ways to pay free web content, maybe that should be something to consider before we all jump on it.
Eventhough its only for Apple OS, OmniWeb really should get a lot more attention. Its a very nice browser with a lot of features.
With Mozilla offering more/better features without all the commercial crap, what made Netscape think anyone would waste their time downloading Netscape instead of Mozilla?
” If a browser like this would become popular, we would have to find new ways to pay free web content”
Um, new ways to pay for free web content? Reality check .. if you have to ‘pay’ for it, it wasn’t free in the first place. Just one more example of commercial scum misusing the word ‘free’.
Eventhough its only for Apple OS, OmniWeb really should get a lot more attention. Its a very nice browser with a lot of features.
Agreed. I don’t understand how Chimera users can trash OmniWeb’s supposed lack of standards compliance while using a buggy, featureless browser. The difference in rendering time between OmniWeb and Chimera is negligable, and in turn the rendered pages look so much nicer in OmniWeb. I’ve never seen adblock that worked quite as well as OmniWeb’s either.
Other way around. No Mozilla, no Netscape. Netscape open sourced BEFORE AOL bought them, thus is teh reason why Netscape is always behind a version with Mozilla. Netscape 7 is based on the Mozilla 1.01 branch. Mozilla 1.1 is usually gonna be ahead of them. The banner blocking is what makes my choice clear though I with they make a custom install option like Netscape does for the OSX version. So I don’t have to install the mail, composer, etc.
I also wanted to throw this in …
Anyone who’s head-over-heels in love with the popup blocking feature in Mozilla should check out The Proxomitron:
http://www.proxomitron.org
It’s a popup blocker PLUS so much more, works with any browser, is a standalone executable, and should also work under Wine.
>>Anyone who’s head-over-heels in love with the popup blocking feature in Mozilla should check out The Proxomitron:
Or….. they can visit here…
http://ufaq.org/ns7/adblocker.html
Popup blocking is not “gone” from Netscape. It’s just not on the prefs dialog.
Those banner blockers are great. Might be even better if I could use them on OSX, though. Anyone tried this yet on Netscape? Works great on Mozilla. This actually kills the HTML of the banners so they don’t render instead of just no showing the image.
http://bannerblind.mozdev.org/
Netscape 7 VS mozilla:
pro Netscape
* Integrated with Netscape Webmail (real nice)
* Integrated with AOL mail (real nice, bu i don’t have a account)
* spellchecker by default
* a lot more polish
* mail and IM integrated
Cons (netscape)
* DOM inspector gone
* Ad blocking is hidden (IT IS there, just can’t be turned on in the gui, only in a prefs file)
There are two things that make the product successful:
* The product
* Marketing
Netscape has marketing, Mozilla doesn’t. Netscape *will* be more popular.
Yes, Netscape will be more popular han Mozilla.
But this is no accident, the Mozilla project is not aiming at the consumers.
They are developing Gecko and the gui is just a demonstration/template for other projects that wish to use Gecko or parts of their gui.
I downloaded it at work so a client could check his AOL e-mail account, the stupid thing won’t work through a proxy server – hell, it won’t even check a pop account through our proxy server. Yeah, it’ll catch on REAL quick in the business world.
I have to confess, though, that Netscape 7 had some exclusive features… like spamming my desktop and the root level of the start menu with AOL icons and auto-installing the POS RealONE player. And someone with a brain would use this instead of Opera because…?
The only nice thing about Netscape 7 (at least, that works) is the AIM client, which would be nice for OSes that lack a full-featured client (cough*BeOS*cough)… but since it’s proprietary and only available on the platforms AOLScape supports, those users are SOL.
P.S.
You mention ad blocking… what’s OSAlert’ policy on that? I know they’re pretty strict about it over on ArsTechnica, if they find out you’re blocking ads on their pages, Caesar’s policy is to ban the “offender”.
“With Mozilla offering more/better features without all the commercial crap, what made Netscape think anyone would
waste their time downloading Netscape instead of Mozilla?”
Well three reasons really:
1. Brand Name – 99% of web users out there have never heard of Mozilla. The odds of these users just happening to find there way to mozilla.org is rather slim. On the other hand Netscape was the first browser, and most web users are familair with it’s brand name. Beyond this it has links through its netscape network on many popular websites (mapquest.com, cnn.com, sportsillustrated.com, etc).
2. Netscape 7 is targeting users. Mozilla isn’t, but is focused on developing gecko and related technologies. The difference in focus is important to an end user. (What “average joe” really wants a debug menu?)
3. Netscape 7 does have features that Mozilla doesn’t. The spell checker (in my experience) is more refined, integration with AIM, integration of web mail, etc.
“If a browser like this would become popular, we would have to find new ways to pay free web content”
Um, new ways to pay for free web content? Reality check .. if you have to ‘pay’ for it, it wasn’t free in the first place.
Just one more example of commercial scum misusing the word ‘free’
free adj. – Costing Nothing
Currently most websites provide you with content (news, tutorials, etc) which you pay no subscription fee for. Unlike magazines, newspapers, cable telivision, etc where you must pay for the convience of this content. Instead of charging the consumer for this service they sell ads (pop-ups, banner, etc) to create enough income to pay their bills. If a browser that blocked all such advertisements became the highly used websites would not be able to generate this income. Thus forcing them to find a new way to finnance the currently free content.
The irony is that if ad blocking (banner and pop-up) becomes too popular a lot of sites will turn to fee based subscriptions in order to survive.
Then the free software community will have really done themselves in.
Although Mozillas main aim is not to be the best browser (although it does a damn good job), people will still not download it, preferring Netscape cos it has a “brand name”. My stepfather for instance chose to use Netscape rather than Mozilla, even though I had recommended it with such wonderful things like easy ad-blocking, no commercial crap, no pop-ups etc. I even said that the Netscape code was Mozilla code, albeit of an older (and out-of-date) version.
I think a lot of people would rather go with a “respectable” commercial company than give time to a bunch of amateur hippies (not my point of view, but some people think free software is only good if a company spends time on it).
* Integrated with Netscape Webmail (real nice)
My first web based email provider was Netscape. I left it 1 1/2 years ago. After “accidently” deleting my account (I use it once every week), I found it to be the most unreliable way to use email. Plus, the slowest. I switch to Yahoo!.
I wouldn’t consider that a pro.
> I downloaded it at work so a client could check his AOL
> e-mail account, the stupid thing won’t work through a
> proxy server – hell, it won’t even check a pop account
> through our proxy server. Yeah, it’ll catch on REAL quick
> in the business world.
Well, Netscape works fine with proxies, my guess is that you company uses MS proxy with NTML authentication. Yes Netscape does not support NTML yet, but the irony is that even microstf recommends that you do NOT use the proxy, and they have discontinued development of it.
Perhaps your company should upgrade a bit ?
> I have to confess, though, that Netscape 7 had some
> exclusive features… like spamming my desktop and the
> root level of the start menu with AOL icons and
> auto-installing the POS RealONE player. And someone with > a brain would use this instead of Opera because…?
Well the RealOne player is OPTIONAL,so don’t choose it during install!!
cheers
henrik
It is better than RealPrayer (pun intended) 8.0.
Heck, i live RealOne a lot, more than Quicktime 6.0 and WMP.
I can’t wait for the faster tab switching as that is the only thing that bugs me currently with this wonderful frontend to mozilla
my girlfriend doesnt like IE but everytime i tried to get her to use mozilla she said it would crash and all around die and would have to go back to IE becuase it just worked. so yesterday i thought hmmm NS7 is out i should tell her to dl it and not tell her its based on mozilla or anything technical like that.
she dl’s it. first words out of her mouth after a few minutes of playing with it. “i LOVE this! it is faster than IE! and i love the tabs”.
I am no longer seeing the banners ads and pop up ads that have been added to OSAlert. Do I feel guilty? No, because if ad revenues drop off from blocking ads, it’s a worthwhile enough site to support with a few $. Regardless of one’s revenue model, you aren’t going to stay in business if you don’t have worthwhile content.
So far Netscape 7 is running better for me than Mozilla 1.1. It does seem to have a noticible amount of polish. (1.1 crashes on Java for me, the nightly builds don’t; but they can’t even quit properly at this time.. Netscape 7 seems to be based on 1.1, and doesn’t crash on Java nor have close problems) So I think it’s a simple choice. Sure Netscape 6 SUCKS, but you kno what? Mozilla did at the time as well. I thik NS7 is a great leap forward, even if it’s been done on Mozilla’s shoulders, it’s still Netscape’s baby. (Or should I say AOL now?)
My point is currently NS7 is running better on my system than both the most recent milestone of mozilla, and the most recent nightly. I think that says a lot about Netscape.
i dont like the fact that netscape 7.0 has software i already use.. aol’s instant messenger.. but its integraded.. i dont need integrated messenger.. because i like aol’s version better.. the integrated netscape one doesnt put a taskbar icon and etc.. theres just no point to having it imbedded in netscape. plus it doesn’t block popups.. im glad mozilla is available.
i block popups.. its a user interface annoyance to have windows POP up and block your view.. or pop up like 30 times.. i dont have web adds blocked.. and i even click some of them. they arent obtrusive or obstructive like popup’s are. pop ups get in your way.
I think these browsers are great even if they are a little slow to load initially. Something I really love about the browser is the CSS2 support. I haven’t seen the psuedo-elements :before and :after really work until now. Bonuses like these really make the browser for me.
mozilla and netscape are not back
really not bad
netscape is just the commercial version of mozilla
so i don’t think anyone should really be surprised to find popping windows with netscape!
it’s all about money and without it there would have been no mozilla!
I.E does not have this problem coz microsoft does have quite a real lot of money whereas netscape is owned by a corporation who is really starting to find itself in some financial difficulty so we should expect this!
mozilla and netscape are not back
really not bad
netscape is just the commercial version of mozilla
so i don’t think anyone should really be surprised to find popping windows with netscape!
it’s all about money and without it there would have been no mozilla!
I.E does not have this problem coz microsoft does have quite a real lot of money whereas netscape is owned by a corporation who is really starting to find itself in some financial difficulty so we should expect this!
I’ve nothing against Netscape, but Mozilla runs on a LOT more platforms. I’d try Netscape, but it doesn’t run on my platform so Mozilla wins by default.
1) I use Mozilla on my Win98SE Athlon 1000 with 256 MB of DDR, and Mozilla starts as quick as IE, and if i use Quicklaunch it starts a lot faster then IE.
2) When i open 34 windows of IE (5.5) i remain with 0 memmory vs. mozilla 86 windows.
3) On older machines in my exeriance graphics render very poor.
There’s a fix for the removal of the popup blocker, download it from here:
http://ufaq.org/ns7/adblocker.html
2) When i open 34 windows of IE (5.5) i remain with 0 memmory vs. mozilla 86 windows.
I tried this. But for me, it is 41 windows of IE and 80 windows of Mozilla 1.1 beta 1.
But I would rather use IE than Mozilla. The UI is sluggish. I’m planning to get Galeon 2.0 Alpha though
i like opera most but if mozzilla is faster with its gecko rendering engine i will try it. does any one know? i ask b/c downloading and installation takes time. when is opera 7 coming out?
If you are on a slow computer, Opera will behave much faster for you. And if you got a fast computer that can run Mozilla fast enough, then it won’t really matter anymore. Today, the browsers are mostly limited by bandwidth. There are some differences though when it comes to incremental reflow. Some browsers will reflow very quick and responsive at the expense of total page loading time. Opera really shines here, it usually already shows something when other browsers are still busy so you get this “wow, that was quick!” impression while in fact it just showed you a header image or something yet and you get the final readable text just as slow as with every other browser.
Mozilla seems to have some small delay (but I’m not sure) when loading a page so it renders the whole page completely before showing it if the page loads fast, but if the page loads slow, it does a very good job at reflowing it after this initial delay.
It is always a tradeoff, if you reflow a lot, you will waste total computing time but if you don’t reflow a lot, it will seem less responsive, also you might wait a longer time before the actual usefull content arrives at your screen.
As browsers progress and computers become faster and faster anyway, those differences become very very marginal though… But the last time I checked Opera, it still had this “wow that was speedy!” effect for me.
This is not enough to keep me using it though, especially as most of it is just an “illusion”.
Then of course there are differences in rendering complex DOM effects (i.e. JavaScripts), etc. In this area there are a lot of differences between the browsers. Mozilla sometimes has slowdowns here, but then again, Opera’s current DOM support isn’t exactly impressive…
Sorry for writing such a novel, I guess it’s one of my typical “quick” midnight-postings where I just can’t find an end. *yawn*
i thought though that the underlying rendering engine does make a difference, and that opera was rewriting the entire browser in 7.0 for even better speed.
then why is mac os x and ie 5.0 so slow at rendering pages?
Anonymous: i like opera most but if mozzilla is faster with its gecko rendering engine i will try it. does any one know? i ask b/c downloading and installation takes time. when is opera 7 coming out?
Rendering pages – same
Start up – around the same
But…
UI – more sluggish
memory – Mozzy uses more.
Opera 7.0 beta should be released in less than a month. The final version should come out next year.
Anonymous: i thought though that the underlying rendering engine does make a difference, and that opera was rewriting the entire browser in 7.0 for even better speed.
The problem isn’t mostly speed. opera couldn’t implement things like DOM and CSS properly in the current rendering engine, so it decided to rewrite the engine.
But god, I’m inching closer and closer in dumping Opera and adopting galeon 2.0.
neve heard of it. is it faster? is it 4 win?
The fact that Netscape 7.0 arrives hot on the heels of the similar but superior Mozilla 1.1 only serves to illuminate the small but significant differences between the two: Mozilla is highly customizable and offers a number of user options (eg. pop-up ad blocking), while Netscape forces users to accept many features and functions (eg. spyware) they probably don’t want while removing some they probably do.
WELL PUT Eugenia. That’s a total kick in the balls for Netscape, fabulous!
HhaHAhaHaHaHhaHA
http://ufaq.org/ns7/adblocker.html
I find that link amusing. Anyone bothered to do that is surely smart enough to download & use Mozilla instead, you’d think.
Again, a question of knowing whether Mozilla exists & knowing its brilliance, I guess.
NS7 is more speedy then Mozilla 1.0, so i’ll use NS7 with the ufaq.org stuff.
Anonymous: neve heard of it. is it faster? is it 4 win?
The UI is faster, and more integrated with GNOME. (I’m a GNOME user now, at least until KDE 3.1 gets stable). It is for Linux only.
There is K-Meleon for Windows.
By kreechah: Anyone bothered to do that is surely smart enough to download & use Mozilla instead, you’d think.
If you are a heavy user of AIM, I would recommend Netscape in the first place. Plus, Netscape is more polished than Mozilla.