[lee vieira]

I realize this is not strictly on topic, but as someone who's had to use IE 5 not by choice, but by default because Netscape 4.x was too slow, and NS 6.0 was a total JOKE, it was certainly refreshing when I recently dloaded Nutscrape 6.2 and it was actually GOOD


After I recovered from fainting, I saw that 6.2 appears to be as fast or maybe a little faster than IE5 for everything I do. For example, washingtonpost.com renders in NS 6.2 in 26 seconds on my 350 MHz iMac. With IE5, it takes 29 seconds (an earlier speed test I cited was botched by me not emptying the NS memory cache --sorry). However, IE5 is faster for cnn.com...48 secs vs 53 (yep, I'm a 56Ker).

So far it's been stable too, which IE5 hasn't really been (I'm running OS 9.1 mostly).

Only drawbacks I've seen so far: 1) I haven't yet figured how to (or if you can) cycle through windows in it, a la the 'command-tilde' command in IE5, and 2) this forum doesn't seem to support 6.2 very well...hit one of the 'instant smilies' buttons while typing a reply here to see what I mean (your msg disappears- yikes. Reload and it comes back though.)

But still...yowsa. After the NS 6PR1 and 6.0 crap, this is certainly a welcome change.

--lee

[ 12-10-2001: Message edited by: lee vieira ]

[xyber233]

I believe Command+1 cycles through windows. Anyways, I still find 6.2 to be slow. I find IE 5 to be very stable so I still use it. 6.2 is a lot better than 6.0 though.

[Chimpmaster]

Netscape 6.2 is good.

It has the best compatability of any mac browser out there, including ie and omniweb.

There are many sites I have been to that will have various issues, such as some of the javascript not loading, scrollbars disappearing etc.

I have not yet found asite that netscape 6.2 wont load correctly.

I prefer to browse in omniweb, so i keep both installed and only use netscape for the sites i cant access in omniweb. Omniweb is beautiful ....

(death to ie )

[Kenneth]

Netscape 6.2.1 works great on my TiBook under 10.1.1, I haven't yet tried the Classic version and running it on my iMac 233. Finally, a good browser on Mac OS X other than OmniWeb 4.1sp. BTW, is Netscape 6.2.1 X a carbon app or cocoa app?

Kenneth

[kbbaucom]

Kenneth - Netscape is Cocoa. I downloaded 6.2.1 to see how it was. I used to like Netscape. It was my main browser until 4.7. I switched to IE 5 a few months before Netscape 6 came out. I say 6.2.1 is definitely not good, and I stick by what I have always said - "all web browsers suck." I hate every one of them...or at least something about every one of them. I am always in X now, so I will compare the ones I have tried...

IE seems to be the fastest for me, and seems to render pages better than Netscape or Omniweb. It's my main browser, but I hate it because it's unstable in X, sometimes hangs on a spinning beach ball, and has problems with UBB message boards. It also has a maximum of 1000 sites in your history, which I think is completely ridiculous. I sometimes go to more than that in a night (seriously - I have had web pages I went to 7 hours ago not auto-complete when I am typing them in). Why is it not unlimited? Even if it doesn't go through all of them to auto-complete URLs, it should at least save them so I can go back and find them a week from now.

Omniweb is slower than IE, and renders about 1/3 of the pages correctly. It also won't let me hit the back button several times in quick succession. I have to wait for the page to load before I can hit back again. This is a problem for forums, where it can cause a lot of double-posts. Most of the pages I go to are forums.

Netscape is very slow, doesn't render pages correctly as often as IE. It's ugly, and doesn't use a standard MacOS interface. The only part of the MacOS in there is the title bar.

[frogbat]

i run 8.6 on a a 266 imac.. netscape renders the pages much faster esp image havy ones, however, ie appears less resource hungry and more fluid - is the netscape interface a java based app? cos if it is might be the reason it's slooow - anything java related on my system like limewire or java chat applets run like snails

[Jerommeke]

it runs faster then ie

but i am confused with al the netscape crap i also get with this thing; search bars news bars messengers etc etc

[pete.z]

Originally posted by Jerommeke:
<STRONG>it runs faster then ie

but i am confused with al the netscape crap i also get with this thing; search bars news bars messengers etc etc</STRONG>

I believe you can turn those off in your preferences,I know I did.

As for 6.2,I like it.It is better in Java support and streaming video with QT then IE.
IE5 ALWAYS freezes when I open a movie in the browser,6.2 never does.
In our forum about cars ( www.automobileforum.com shameless promoting...sorry... ) we have a build in java based chat,it never functions in IE,6.2 handles it like a charm.

I have the feeling Netscape is faster too,but not by much. (cable)

[Kristoff]

Originally posted by kbbaucom:
<STRONG>
Netscape is very slow, doesn't render pages correctly as often as IE. It's ugly, and doesn't use a standard MacOS interface. The only part of the MacOS in there is the title bar.</STRONG>

It may be slower, but if it doesn't render the page the way you think it should, that's because the page was written wrong!

Mozilla is the most standards compliant parser out there and all other browsers should aspire to be that compliant. Mozilla is the benchmark of W3C standards compliance!

[vmarks]

Originally posted by Kristoff:
<STRONG>

It may be slower, but if it doesn't render the page the way you think it should, that's because the page was written wrong!

Mozilla is the most standards compliant parser out there and all other browsers should aspire to be that compliant. Mozilla is the benchmark of W3C standards compliance!</STRONG>

Almost, but not quite. The latest Moz milestone renders the W3C page wrong. Netscape 6.2.1 does it right, but Moz doesn't. Sure, Moz is good, but it doesn't follow the W3C perfectly, or W3C made a non-compliant page.

Which would you believe?

[rambo47]

Every version of Netscape I've tried, including 6.2, has been crap. Slower that IE by a wide margin on both my PowerMac G4 (upgraded Yosemite) with 1 GB RAM, and on my TiBook with 512 MB RAM. I truely wish Netscape was better than IE, but its just not.

[gto47]

I have always found Mozilla to be much faster than its Netscape counterpart. By the time those aol monkeys get done with NS, its version is already outdated. Both Moz and NS render pretty well. Every once in awhile moz messes a tiny thing up, but its still a far cry from browsers such as icab and opera, which hardly ever do it right. Personally, i think NS suffers some speed from the WC3 compliance, as the larger build tends to slow down loading. I'll put up with a slightly deformed page once in awhile for a little speed, no matter how minute. (especially in osx) THe interface problems can be annoying. Not just that it looks bad, but it it doesnt appear to respond as well as it should. In osx it is much worse. Im not sure how well this embedded interface is gonna work.. IE, by the way seems to be a smidge faster than mozilla for me. ITs less than the difference between NS and Moz for me,so i really dont care.

[CaseCom]

How does Netscape 6.2 for OS 9 compare with 6.2 for OS X? Just curious...

I'm a 56ker too, btw. (geez, that almost looks like haX0r-speak for an obscenity!)

I honestly don't get the guys who are saying Netscape 6.2 is slow. On my system, its just as fast as IE5, maybe faster. I'm running OS 9.1 on a 350MHz iMac w/128MB of RAM. *shrug*

--lee

[Rob van dam]

Is opera any good.

[xyber233]

My list of browsers from best to worst:
1)IE 5
2)Netscape 6.2
3)Netscape 4.7x
4)Opera
5)iCab

[iPaul UK]

I don't get it.. Is Netscape 6.2 only good on an iMac or something?

[xyber233]

Originally posted by iPaul UK:
<STRONG>I don't get it.. Is Netscape 6.2 only good on an iMac or something?</STRONG>

[SpeadFreek]

Hmmm..... maybe I'll check out the Netscape again, then.

It's just that supporting the AOL-Time-Warner monopoly-wannabee is about as pleasing as supporting the Gates of hell one.

Personally, I hope iCab will keep evolving. I don't know what's in it for THEM, but they hang in there putting a lot of effort against the behemoths.

[seanyepez]

Download the pages locally and then have the browsers render them. A difference of only a few seconds is probably caused by variations in Internet latency and bandwidth. Try doing the test multiple times (don't forget to clear the cache), and by averaging that figure, you can get a reasonable estimate.

[beetone]

I really like the Netscape 6.2 browser.Is it as fast as, say, Internet Explorer? Dunno. I use a broadband connection and I don't really care about a few microseconds one way or the other. However, I am much less enthusiastic about the emailer which is rather quirky. Pity the browser wasn't available for downloading (and launching, of course) without the other appendages.

[gacuna]

I am partial to OmniWeb, I think it is by far the best out there.

[kcmac]

I haven't really found any problems with OmniWeb. After using it straight for nearly 3 weeks, going back to IE and seeing how it renders text is just unappealing. OmniWeb is purtee!

[kcmac]

I haven't really found any problems with OmniWeb. After using it straight for nearly 3 weeks, going back to IE and seeing how it renders text is just unappealing. OmniWeb is purtee!

[OldManMac]

I've been using Netscape 6.2 and OmniWeb for the past several weeks, and I prefer OmniWeb, but Netscape is a close second. I rarely use Internet Exploder anymore!

[ZekeG4]

After using IE5 for a long time i downloaded 6.2 and found that it is great... the only thing i don't like is that it takes forever to load the bookmarks! Does anyone else have this problem? That's the only problem I have...

[andi*pandi]

has anyone tested 6.2 with itools and homepage?

I read on the apple discussion boards that lots of people using 6.0, 6.1 were having troubles logging in, seeing homepages, or navigating the java-based "slideshow" popup window in itools and homepage. The mods said that it wouldn't work with the java in version 6, and recommended using older 4.5-8 versions. Maybe they just didn't know about 6.2, or maybe it doesn't work even with 6.2...

Can someone with 6.2 test this? For those that have upgraded, in general is 6.2 better than the 4.5-4.8 versions, or just glitzier?

I know that aol is becoming almost as bad monopoly-wise as microsoft, but still rather go that way... small defiances make me happy.

Congratulations KarlG. We need more like you who come to find that there is indeed a world out there without M$ (please disregard if you still use Office, with the new Appleworks out there and all)

[andi*pandi]

Ok, let me ask again.

Has anyone using Netscape 6.2 tried using iTools? Any problems accessing homepage, or viewing other people's homepages, especially that tricky java slideshow? (the apple website says that netscape 6 is not supported by itools.)

Anybody?

What about css support, and all that?

[Danometer]

I can access iTools with Mozilla 0.9.7, but it's fragile. It has a tendency to crash too often. From my understanding, Netscape 6.2.2 was built from Mozilla 0.9.5, but I could be wrong.

[Later] OK, I'm wrong, Mozilla is no longer working with iTools. Sorry to get your hopes up.

[ 01-10-2002: Message edited by: Danometer ]

[MadMacs]

[xyber233]

The most important feature that I imeadiately hated was the lack of drag and drop.

That really irritates me! I find IE more functional. I have heard that the OS X version isn't too bad though.