Netscape 7.2 ReleasedTuesday August 17th, 2004America Online has just released Netscape 7.2. Based on Mozilla 1.7, this latest version features better popup blocking, vCard support, an improved junk mail algorithm, better standards support, performance enhancements and several hundred other bug fixes. It also includes patches for recent security vulnerabilities. It is a little over a year since AOL shut down the Netscape browser division, laid off or reassigned the remaining engineers and withdrew from the day to day running of mozilla.org. At the time, they said that new versions of Netscape were unlikely. Earlier this year, they changed their minds and announced Netscape 7.2. More details about Netscape 7.2 are available at Netscape Browser Central, together with download links. The Netscape 7 Release Notes have been updated. Update: As previously speculated, the Windows version of Netscape 7.2 features a version of the Netscape Toolbar created by the Mozdev Group. The uninstallable toolbar contains a Netscape Search box (you can still search from the Location Bar but the Search button is disabled by default), links to various sections of the Netscape Network and buttons to easily toggle popup blocking, access the Form Manager feature and clear the browser history. AOL is marketing this release heavily: visitors to Netscape.com are redirected to a roadblock page pushing 7.2 and the regular Netscape homepage has a large advert for the latest release. Mozilla is now so well known Netscape are using it in their marketing: http://home.netscape.com/detour.adp That page was what I was redirected to on http://home.netscape.com/ At least they're trying to promote it this time If AOL got rid of all the remaining Netscape employees.... who created Netscape 7.2? There's a few options: 1) They could get some of their staff that used to work on Netscape but are now in a different division of AOL to work on it. 2) They may have paid the Mozilla Foundation to do this 3) They may have contracted another company to do it It's probably not difficult, all that someone would have to do is to take Mozilla 1.7.2 and update the Netscape extensions (e.g. AIM and Netscape Mail support) to work with the new versions. As it's based on Seamonkey rather than Firefox most of the front end changes will not be that great. Some clues: http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/gerv/archives/006096.html http://www.mozdevgroup.com/ (see what's new down the right hand side) Yawn. Yawn. Next time don't do it in public. It's infectious. If a troll yawns in a forest, and nobody wants to hear it, does it make a sound? does a yawn ever make a sound? *yawn* DANG! now i am doing it again :( Hehe, recent studies also shown that yawns are infectious to the blind people, they only need to hear it as well as to deaf people if they only see it. The only search engine allowed with 7.2 is Netscape, unlike 7.1 which allowed google. That stinks. Hopefully someone will find a way to fix that by editing a *.js file, and let the rest of us know. Also, there is still no XFT font support on linux, fonts on linux are just like they were with 7.1. *SIGH* Mozilla looks sooo good with the anti-aliased bitstream vera sans fonts on linux, at least Netscape has the adobe fonts as a consolation prize. I know there were security, speed and standards compliance improvements under the covers, but I was hoping for at least better font support for linux. Oh, well, I guess I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. I am happy that 7.1 wasn't the end of the line for Netscape. "The only search engine allowed with 7.2 is Netscape, unlike 7.1 which allowed google. That stinks. Hopefully someone will find a way to fix that by editing a *.js file, and let the rest of us know." No need. Just go to http://mycroft.mozdev.org/quick/google.html. Alex "The only search engine allowed..." ummm, can you not just go to: http://www.google.com/ or even: http://www.google.com/advanced_search ? "The only search engine allowed..." ummm, can you not just go to: http://www.google.com/ or even: http://www.google.com/advanced_search ? I think your recommendation is for having google as a sidebar, but what I was talking about was using google as a search engine from the location (URL) field. It didn't work for that. However, I found a fix (that I tested on Windows and Linux). Simply copy the "searchplugins" directory from a Netscape 7.1 installation into the Netscape 7.2 installation. The "searchplugins" directory can be found where netscape is installed (probably /usr/local/netscape on Linux, "C:\Program Files\Netscape\Netscape" on Windows). That will restore the google, lycos, etc. options in Edit->Preferences->Navigator->Internet Search->Default Search Engine. P.S. Sorry about the double post of the thread starting post. The only search engine allowed with 7.2 is Netscape, unlike 7.1 which allowed google. That stinks. Hopefully someone will find a way to fix that by editing a *.js file, and let the rest of us know. Also, there is still no XFT font support on linux, fonts on linux are just like they were with 7.1. *SIGH* Mozilla looks sooo good with the anti-aliased bitstream vera sans fonts on linux, at least Netscape has the adobe fonts as a consolation prize. I know there were security, speed and standards compliance improvements under the covers, but I was hoping for at least better font support for linux. Oh, well, I guess I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. I am happy that 7.1 wasn't the end of the line for Netscape. I doubt that "Netscape Toolbar" was developed by the mozdev group, because (a) it is a toolbar for Internet Explorer and (b) the page says it was developed Visicom Media. I doubt that you are correct because (a) this version of the toolbar is for Mozilla and (b) the About screen says it was developed by the Mozdev Group. :-) Alex The Netscape toolbar *for Netscape* was developed by the Mozdev group. It says so in "About Netscape Toolbar". Plus it uses jslib. Title sais it all. I didn't know that. I just installed it for the first time ever (never used NS seriously) and I like the polish, but I'd keep my mozilla 1.8a2. Nevertheless, the extras are nice if that is your thing. I like how all the plugins get installed by default, I bet that only happens in the windows version. > I like the polish, but I'd keep my mozilla 1.8a2. I don´t believe you! http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/mozilla/releases/mozilla1.8a3/ ;-) herman The toolbar has an uninstaller, check your facts people! <blockquote> The toolbar has an uninstaller, check your facts people! </blockquote> Absolutely correct. Just click the Netscape entry on the toolbar, and "Uninstall" is one of the menu choices provided. Now that AOL is using Mozilla.org tech that they had little to to with developing or maintaining, perhaps it is time for them to make another, hopefully sizable, donation to Mozilla.org? Do you think it will ever be a netscape 8 based on the stadalone firefox/thunderbird-clients? I really hope so. Netscape rules god damn it... :) Oh Well - installed it under Linux, fonts still look cack - back to Moz ;-) Mmmf. Netscape hasn't been much use since 5.0. The bloat killed it; I still won't use Seamonkey because of all the netscape-ish cruft left over in its interface. Give me Firefox anyday. However, this is still good news in one sector- tech evangelism. A lot of site administrators don't give a damn if their non-standards sites don't show up in Mozilla; but telling them they don't display in the latest Netscape is more likely to get results. Please let me know where I can find this Netscape 5.0 version that introduced the bloat. Emmmm... the one before six. Did they skip from 4? I forget. i thought they went straight from the (good) 4 to the (ill fated) 6. i doubt there ever was a 5. then for 7 they scrapped the old stuff & started with mozilla suite 1.0 as a base... 4.0 was not good. Pages would come up blank, or the error would be returned that "Document contains no data" when it did. Pages would be screwed up. Netscape 6 was very compliant, although slow to start up. This was my experience. Netscape 3 was a great product, but that generation (which changed little) died when the web stopped caring about its vision, because IE did the simple stuff better. Netscape 3's built-in audio player was unparalleled. I loved Netscape. #40 Not sure if the name still holds that power...by leafdigital Wednesday August 18th, 2004 4:31 AM I have no desire to try Netscape either; I do use Seamonkey and think it's great. Why bother changing to something (slightly) proprietary? As for tech evangelism - possibly, but It's getting rarer for anyone to care about supporting Netscape any more; those who have a clue care about Gecko as a whole, while those who don't will tell you 'nobody uses Netscape any more'. (And they're right, to within a few percentage points anyhow - Mozilla's browsers are significantly more popular than the Netscape-branded ones, at least on my sites.) I think this release is a good thing though - people who are already using Netscape 7.x ought to have an easy upgrade path to pick up improvements, security fixes etc. In fact I know one such. So, well done AOL, thanks, good news for those people, not of too much use for the rest of us. --sam Bla Bla! Yawn... Is there still a significantly larger group of people with gtk 1.2 installed than 2.x? I don't have gtk 1.2 installed anymore. There are so very few apps that still use it. the only ones I can think of at the moment are xmms and netscape. (that don't have a new version with gtk 2.0 or at least some version with gtk 2.) Are the mozilla folks planning to support it indefinitely? What is the build ID? I waited for a long time for a new Netscape between the communicator series (very good in the end) and new 6.0 came out it had some cool stuff but was slow as hell. Think about it's years ago now and PC's where alot slower, it crawled. Anyway I again looked out for a newer, better Netscape and eventually got fed up and found Mozilla back in the 0.X days. I liked that you could always get the new feature as and when it's been coded. But still I didn't really like the weight of the suite. Then along came Phoenix 0.1, it was everything that the next gen broswers should be. I've followed it ever since to it's current FireFox 0.9.3. If Netscape packaged Firefox as Netscape 8.0 then Netscape would be a serious contender again but although I have Netscape 7.2 installed I don't think it will be seeing much action on my PC. It was all a big anti-climax in the end. > If Netscape packaged Firefox as Netscape 8.0... I'd like to see Firefox, Thunderbird, and Sunbird bundled together in a Netscape 8.x distribution. With the option to install the complete package, or only parts of the package, it could allow users install as much or as little as they need. They should wait until the next stable branch next year to allow those products to mature enough so that it would be better than Netscape 7.2 in every way and also be an adequate replacement for IE and Outlook. If Netscape did that, they might be in a position to grab a significant share of the browser market again. If you have an AIM screen name try the logging into the built in AIM. Once logged in goto preferences (in the Edit menu), select Buddy Icons from the Instant Messenger section. The look at the panel on the right it says AIM Buddy Icons NOTE: You Must Have Microsoft Internet Explorer Set As Your Default Browser to View AIM's Icon Library. I think they need to fix that I find it REALLY odd that Time Warner is putting out another Gecko-based browser. Especially since they kicked the Mozilla Foundation out to the curb awhile back. They, or their product, weren't good enough to be with their company back then, and now they're using them to make money. BAW HAW HAW!! I never liked their default them. That ugly-ass green color ... UGH!!! Firefox is looking better & better every day. Netscape could be good again if AOL sold it to somone else, Hopfully an ISP who will trim the fat and use it. Toolbar screenshots and feature discussion is available at: http://www.mozdevgroup.com/clients/netscape/ |