[yoyo52]

Here's an interesting article on Netscape 6:
http://www.oreilly.com/news/flanagan_1100.html

Reactions?

[Gregg]

Sorry, I was too impatient to let the article load. But, what is Netscape 6? Last I heard (and recently, I might add) the latest Mac version is 4.7.6 and no higher one exists.

[mac freak]

I don't see the point of the whole NS6/Mozzilla project... it has no future.

Web browsing is the one aspect of my life that Microsoft owns... IE is a very good browser... tho I guess I use iCab in OS X.

------------------
Be Happy.

I can't wait the NS6 release. I don't want to hear nothing about that Gates Mircosoft carp. It sucks. When you install Microsoft software it puts its items all over the comp, later its very difficult to get rid of it. And Microsoft software interface is much uglyer.

[Cipher13]

IE 5 is crap. Looks good, nice "save as web archive feature", but all in all, total crap.
Netscape 6 is also total crap.
iCab is also crap, or it was when I last tried it. Can you say "u g l y"???
Netscape 4.76 will be my browser of preference for as long as possible.
Gregg, Netscape 6 is I think in beta about now, or something.
Netscape Comm Corp skipped 5 to catch up in the numbers game. And it is CRAP...
Mozilla is the same basically, but open source... and it is also CRAP...
Stick with 4.76.

Cipher13

[AAPl Shareholder]

Dude... Netscape 6 rocks. I am using a near final nightly build right now and it really is quite cool. It loads pages supper fast, the UI bugs are gone, and you can totally coustomize it.

The Modern skin looks extremely cool now. They re-did it (thank god).

This is a really nice web browser. I can't wait until netscape opens up the build tree for 6.1. Mozilla.org already has a ton of stuff that they want to apply.

[Richard Pinneau]

Cipher...
given the conflicting reactions, I'd like to play it safe and get a copy of Nav 4.76 while I can (if I can). [and patronize someone besides Silicon Bill if possible] Do you (does someone) have link to download that. (meanwhile I limp along with aol built-in of IE)
Many thanks,
�RP

[paulc]

Hmmmm, mention of the password protection, but no posts in the discussion. Well, I'm trying to d/l this, but I keep getting a password authroization dialog. Wrote and got a quick reply that it was because there were too many anonymous users. Very odd, I have NEVER EVER seen this happen.. than again, the site (in the Netherlands?) that this is linked to is clearly running on wintel/iis, so I guess anything is possible.

I'd bet you that the admin there purposely protected it.. this has happened before when someone overseas posts something LOTS of people are interested in before the publisher does. All of a sudden, they find TONS of people hitting on them. Before you know it, every place on the net is publishing their site as the link. I know that if I were the admin there, I'd do the exact same thing.

Please remember that it's a foreign mirror of a still UNRELEASED product. It's not even the final version.
When the official, final version is released, it'll be on http://home.netscape.com

Last thing I want to see is people grabbing a beta build (thinking it's the final) and then posting all over the place about bugs/etc.

PLEASE wait for the final version...

[Eccent]

Yes.. I have a feeling that this isn't the full release version. Observations:


"default-install sweetlou"
Crashed on first installation attempt.
Some meaningless screen saying activation.
It reacts very slowly if you have a lot of
bookmarks.
Command click doesn't open link in new window.

For some odd...reason. .it shows the posts in this forum with each post's first line in larger size font than all the rest.


Serious screen-refresh problems.

"About Netscape" doesn't work.

Who really thinks this is the final version? I don't. Someone compare this to the latest build.

[This message has been edited by Eccent (edited 11-11-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Eccent (edited 11-11-2000).]

this is defenetly not a final version. it took me 49 seconds on a 233 G3 to open it. there is nothing when you try about netscape.

it doesnt load pages, only header sometimes. the only page i was able to see was macnn after i try to reload or hit enter 10 times. i clicked on a link, than i click the back button and it was showing me not the page, the sourve code in the main window!!

it's even slow to load page locally. i just hope we will not see that thing on the netscape website on monday...it will totally be the end of netscape.

btw, as a web designer, those theme will bring us a lot of frustration. i have open 2 websites i have done and it looks weird to have those colors around my design. we will now have to make a website that coding works on netscape mac/pc IE mac/pc, and now make a site that colors don't look weird in netscape 6.

what a joy to be webdesigner these days!

i guess IE won, and i don't care, it's a great browser.

I am glad Eccent brought up the *glaring* shortcomings of the so called "release" of Netscape 6. I found roughly the same bugs and sluggishness aside from the app crashing repeatedly when trying so save preference changes. Final release? Hardly. What were they thinking'????

with the tease of 'final realease' i actually got around to taking a look at netscape 6.

the horrors!

as a web designer, i am appalled at how intrusive the interface is to the pages being displayed.

whoever at netscape decided that the 'look & personality' of the browser was more important than presenting the information in the web pages was/is sadly misguided. they dont even have the common sense to use neutral colors. if my clients see thier pages on this thing i think they will freak.

what's more this browser hogs up even more real estate than Ie5 (but is nowhere near as straightforward and easy to use)the toolbar at the bottom eats up an additional 75 pixels or so FOR NO REASON except to sell things!

this is the most pc like application i have seen, with mryiad places to click and 'integrated advertisments' masquerading as features.

i am disgusted. i no longer feel sad that netscape got beat by microsoft. now i just hope someone puts them out of their misery quickly.

you haven't heard from someone more anti-microsoft than myself. yet i have to admit that the Ms products for mac lately have been truly superior.

I think they know that mac-heads have an inherent bias and are overcompensating by bringing out products which are well designed and pleasureable to use. nowhere is the phrase 'mac-like' a bigger compliment than from microsoft. they apparently think very highly of us.

sadly. netscape is headed for the masses (and the gutter) with an obtrusive, confusing, gaudy, clutterred, clunky, big, intrusive, overblown app. Apparently they are trying to be more 'pc-like'

sad. very sad.

[palmberg]

How can I expect to be bothered to even LOOK at Netscape 6 when IE5 does everything I need?

And on my iBook running OS X beta, I'm slowly falling for OmniWeb.

*plink, plink*

This is obviously NOT the official release, since there is nothing about the Netscape web site about it, and nothing in Netscape's FTP server about it. And the mention of "sweetlou" is further evidence of this, since this is an internal server that only Netscape employees have access to (I know this because there's regular mention of "sweetlou" by Netscape employees in the Mozilla newsgroups).

My guess was that they were testing their distribution and updating systems ahead of time before the actual thing is released. Which they've done in the past before.

MacNN, can you retract this for the time being until the official thing is released?

http://www.gerbilbox.com/newzilla/

Like i said, WHAT YOU PEOPLE DOWNLOADED IS ***NOT*** THE FINAL RELEASE.
I wish that whoever has that mirror would take his mirror down NOW.

It's a beta build (and I'm not even sure how old that particular one is) and of course you're going to find issues. For all I know, that's pre-PR1 stuff that y'all found.

Oh..to whoever is complaining about the skins/UI colors:Use the classic skin. Problem solved.

[bleen]

This IS the final version of netscape. I know that it is becaue I am running it right now! I have gone into About netscape and it says "Netscape6/6.0" No Preview release stuff in the splash screens on start up, no Preview release stuff noted in the About Netscape.

Those of you who are saying this isn't... you're wrong, becasue it is. Right now there is no way to convince me otherwise becasue I'm running the Application right now.

p.s. this is a lot faster then the previous builds have been.

[mkbhatia]

Well, given the somewhat conflicting information and the notes from Netscape's employees here, I have updated the main page to better reflect the information available. There do seem to be some issues with the build, but there is definitely not any "preview mark" or even 'fc' attached to the version number. I'm not exactly sure how "final" the build is, so I've dubbed it a semi-final' build for lack of a better term.



[This message has been edited by mkbhatia (edited 11-11-2000).]

I'm impressed with this build, whatever build it is.

I've been trying to use Mozilla for quite awhile but have been unable to use it exclusively cuz it doesn't support ssl. This build of Netscape 6 does.

I like it MUCH better than IE 5.0. IE is SLOW in html renders. The Gecko engine is honestly like 3-5 times faster. Netscape doesn't litter my system with "libraries" that don't release memory when you no longer need them.

I actually think I may be sticking with Netscape 6.0.

I have downloaded and looked at Netscape 6. I think the interface is a joke and has been seriously AOL'd. Poor icons and a very busy interface in my opinion. While netscape has gone in a more cluttered and busy direction for its interface, IE 5 has gone the opposite way towards a cleaner and more usable interface. And believe me, it pains me to say this because I don't like microsoft. I would switch to iCab, but I just can't give up that interface, ease of access to history, and ease of organization of my favorites.

Bleen. Listen. It is NOT the final version. Just trust me, ok?
If it WAS the final version, I guarantee you that I would not have time to dig around here, because I would be busy tending to FTP servers.

Dudes This is the final version I am pretty sure. Why you might add? look at the AIM. Chat and Away has been enabled in this version. Plus the edit menu for AIM has recieved color instead of the modern navy blue. Please look at these things. All I have to say is I am using and loving it!!!

The lack of a "Preview Release" label may not mean much, since all it indicates is that they just removed the label in anticipation of a FUTURE final release, but they could make changes between now and then.

This happened with Preview Release 1, which was reportedly "leaked" when Netscape temporarily put some build files on their servers to test their distribution systems. The actual Preview Release wasn't released for another week or so.

Just wait for an official announcements guys. For those who downloaded this "semi-final" build, upgrade to the official one whenever it is announced.

My main concern in all of this is how Netscape is handling this. I have faith in the Mozilla project, but Netscape is locked an a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation since some people want Netscape to delay Netscape 6 so more bug fixes can be checked in, while others are saying that it's taken too long and want it now.

http://www.gerbilbox.com/newzilla/

One final note, the Netscape FTP server had an empty "PR3" for several weeks before Preview Release 3 was actually released.

http://www.gerbilbox.com/newzilla/

[bleen]

Someone then has spent a lot of time hacking a Mozilla Build and Netscape PR build to fool a lot of people. I've played around with this for a whie, it looks pretty real.

[AAPl Shareholder]

As for those of you that hate the UI please go to mozilla.org and download some skins. They apply themselves automatically though the browser window and there lots of good ones to chose from.

As I recall didn't PR 3 ship wil the classic skin on by default?

As for the about box bug.. that bug is also in the latest versions of mozilla NS6.

Ohh and if you are sick of AOL's ads and extra buttons download the november 10th build of mozilla. It is very very good.

I've been having a problem with this build and several PR releases: I often only see part of a web page displayed. Or the text without images (Google). Or the top few images, and nothing else? iCab and IE 5 and Netscape 4.7n are all fine, so what am I doing wrong? I'm perplexed.

- Shelly

Comdex starts on Monday...

Could it be the official release date for Netscape 6 and this was just a premature slip?

Just my guess.

Originally posted by shellyk:
I've been having a problem with this build and several PR releases: I often only see part of a web page displayed. Or the text without images (Google). Or the top few images, and nothing else? iCab and IE 5 and Netscape 4.7n are all fine, so what am I doing wrong? I'm perplexed.


- Shelly

shellyk, I do not see the problems you're describing. Do you have any other specific URLs in question? Contact me with the following link:

http://www.gerbilbox.com/newzilla/fe...stage=feedback

Um...I've no problems with the "about Nescape" menu command...here's what it says...

Netscape 6
Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; N; PPC; en-US; m18) Gecko/20001108 Netscape6/6.0

[Netscape] Copyright � 2000 Netscape Communications Corporation. Portions of this code are copyrighted by Contributors to the Mozilla codebase under the Mozilla Public License and Netscape Public License. All Rights Reserved.


Seems to work so far, even draws some pages faster than version 4.76... Let's see what they say...

bgv

[Cipher13]

Richard, sorry for late reply, and if its already been covered.
http://www.versiontracker.com/redir....omplete_US.bin

Cipher13

People who tried the first Netscape 6 preview and have been panning the product ever since are being unfair. The first previews had some real shortcomings, but since then they have made dramatic improvements to the speed and the interface. It is getting close to being faster than IE now, and I like the cleaned-up interface. If they can fix it so it doesn't crash on every third page, I would gladly consider switching back from IE.

It's impressive to see how much progress they've made since the early beta. I hope Apple makes this kind of progress with the OS X beta.

[Macdriver]

Gee is that so I am sending this from NS 6 and it is way beyond IE

Yup, I'm cooler than all of you.
Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; N; PPC; en-US; m18) Gecko/20001110 Netscape6/6.0

Sheesh, about:netscape gives me:
Netscape 6
Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; N; PPC; en-US; m18) Gecko/20001108 Netscape6/6.0

m18 is the Milestone number, for the milestone. It's milestone 18 of Mozilla, with all the Netscape flashing lights and accessories.
I totally agree that this isnt the final version. Netscape still needs to put the finishing touches on the product.

BTW, a LOT of web page text is coming out unsmoothed, blocky, and downright ugly! I'm already using ATM, so I dont know what the problem is. Anybody know a solution?

wow, this newest release of Netscape 6 is alot better than the previous build, its actually quite snappy. I guess Netscape still has some life left in it after all.

jdkoiles

I believe this to be the final version. Opening up the file in resedit shows this to be the final. I'm hoping that this isn't the final though, since in it's present state it cannot hope to compete with the other browsers out there (Explorer and iCab). The UI is not as responsive as the other browsers. I have to click on the mail icon a few times to get the email client to launch. I can't use my scroll wheel. This sucks. I had high hopes since PR3 was so much better than the previous builds and it seemed that Netscape was headed in the right direction. If this is in fact the final build, I'll be sticking with Explorer.

i don't know why you're all complaining that Netscape is releasing this "Final Build" prematurely. so what? why not just get Mozilla? the latest builds are already much better than this Netscape 6, and they're getting better every day.

you can see which nightly builds are good and which ones aren't at:

http://www.mozillazine.org/build_comments/

and most importantly, if there's something wrong with Mozilla, report it through Bugzilla!! there aren't enough people posting quality bugs for the Mac port. guys this is opensource! even if you don't know how to code, you can still help with bug reports, and in the end, we all end up with a better product!

- j

It's fast an stable, but I can't transfer my settings from Netscape 4.7.6 and that sucks. It imports from Eudora and Microsoft, but not from their own previous browser/mail, that is plain weird!

As far as I can tell...................... this Netscape 6 is slow and clunky. It's going in my TRASH!

Can't imagine why anyone would want to use it?

Griz

[Visnaut]

As a web designer, I simply cannot wait for the arrival of NS6.

Ever since I've begun designing with CSS, (cascading style sheets, much better way to design a site, a standard which is around 3 years old if I'm not mistaken) NS 4.0 and up has been pure hell for me. I am not exaggerating when I say that I spend 60-70% of my design time working around the problems and incompatibilities in Netscape. This is simply ridiculous for a "modern" browser.

NS6, however, ever since the early builds handles anything I throw at it, and then some. It's slow as molasses starting up, and it's interface is busy as hell, but I won't have any pity for those using NS 4.7.x or below when designing my sites.

Want NS? Fine, I respect that, but don't expect many web designers to bend over backwards for anyone using anything less than 6.0. We've had enough of trying to wrestle with NS to pull off cross-browser sites.

'nuff said...

Go to http://www.macfreak.org/, they have the full version on their local server for speedy download =) The site is in Dutch but if you look at the links on the homepage and click them, they will bring you to the download link (just two clicks away =)

This sure doesn't look like a beta to me... And unlike the negative remarks made by some, it really looks quite good. Better than version 4.7.x and almost as good as IE 5.

It's certainly not a finished product, but it's an excellent beta (and about time). This is the best Netscape to date.

Just a little more work, and it will be done. How it got on the .nl site, I haven't a clue but I'm glad to be using it. --although, I'm making this post through IE, which has all my needed cookies and passwords.

[stetsows]

Originally posted by grizden:
As far as I can tell...................... this Netscape 6 is slow and clunky. It's going in my TRASH!

Can't imagine why anyone would want to use it?

Griz

My sentiments exactly. Perhaps they should place it back in the "too close to call" catagory.

[AAPl Shareholder]

Ok.. here's some decent info.

The build of "netscape 6" that we all downloaded seems to have the same guts as November 10th's build of Mozilla NS6. Although their are no build markings the browser does seem to have the exact same bugs that 11/10/00 NS6 has.

These bugs seem to be nothing more then standard nightly build bugs. For example, if you view Apple.com in "netscape 6" or 11/10/00 NS6 it renders wrong, however mozilla doesn't usually do this. Nightly builds have been rendering that site fine for a while now and whatever the problem may be it should be very simple to fix.

I personally don't think the thing we downloaded is the final deal. It is damn close, but it needs a quick spit shine. I have used better nightly builds (or at least I think I have).

My guess is that some folks at netscape are testing out some stuff for opening day. ie: all of those dumb aol ads and minor tweeks to the default chrome. Once that stuff is finalized it can simply be dumped in the browser directories. I am curring mozilla with Netscape chrome and AIM as I type.

This browser should be cool when it is done. Don't listen to that guy from O'reily... god knows this thing is already more standards complient then most of the browsers out there
today. However... Mac IE 5 will be hard to beat. That is probably on of the best browsers I have ever used on any platform.

I just don't know... I want it to be faster. I want the mail functions to be more pro-active (notifications). I want the mail function separate from the browser. I want to know why I don't have a "Navigation Bar". It's been gone since the first time I used the browser and it wont come back. But more than anything, I want my scroll wheel to work. Why doesn't it?

One more thought...Does anyone know why the scroll ring doesn't work? It works with every other browser available. Am I missing something here?

Okay, this is the last post. I really wanted this to be a good browser. It isn't a good browser. It isn't even a fair browser. It's slow, it's cluttered, it looks kind of nice but so what? Even opening the mail capability takes five seconds or more. The 4 series of NS browsers blow this away.

IE 5.0, for all you Microsoft haters, is an elegant piece of work that makes the whole web experience seamless. I'm not a developer, a designer, a techie or an expert of any kind. I'm a day to day user, and using NS 6 is a tiring experience.

The Browser wars are over. Netscape should get into something else. For those of you who hate Microsoft with such passion that you wont allow anything from them on your machine, there are still better browsers than NS 6.

And I still want to know why my scroll wheel wont work on this browser....It just doesn't make it. We've seen too many better things. I'd rather use AOL.

[bleen]

It's on VersionTracker! Version Tracker has announced Netscape 6.0 which goes to link in Netscape's FTP site. The version we got Saturday must of been the final version.

To those who said its not... I don't see how you can now say it wasn't.