Netscape 9
30 November 2007 · Last updated: 30 November 2007
I missed this, but on October 15th 2007, Netscape Navigator 9 was released. It's available for Windows, Linux and Mac and is based on Firefox 2. It's a standalone browser without a built-in email program[1] or web page maker. You can use Firefox extensions with it.
The main theme is green with square icons using rounded corners. But there's one less button...
"To save space in your toolbar, we've combined the stop and reload buttons. Because you never need both at the same time, the toolbar will only show the relevant half of the pair."
This is something Opera have done for years.
For a full list of new features see What's New in Netscape Navigator 9?. These include a Link Pad, which enables you to temporarily store bookmarks. Unlike Opera's notes side panel however, clicking on the link to open it will also delete it.
You can also surf using a mini browser in the side panel. Plus resize textareas on web pages when you need to, along with a range of other improvements.
I'm just not sure why anyone would bother to install this browser though. For testing or surfing you can just use Firefox. Whether the differences in Netscape 9 are enough to make it worthwhile is down to you. Otherwise I don't see why they keep the Netscape browser name going. And do we really need a future Netscape 10?
Notes
- Apparently there will be a new email program called Netscape Messenger 9, based on Thunderbird.
Comments (0)
Please send any comments in via email and I'll publish any suitable ones here.