# Is Netscape dead?



## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

I'm scratching my head here. Is Netcape 7.1 the final version of Netscape to be released? I'm starting to scratch my head on this. AOL purchased Netscape, and then let development rot. Netscape 6 and later was essentially rebranded versions of the Mozilla project.

And now, Netscape appears to be a brand name for a low cost national ISP. Hmmmm.....


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## Pete K. (Apr 23, 2002)

Rip.


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## James_F (Apr 23, 2002)

Netscape lives through Mozilla I guess....


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## Danny R (Jul 5, 2002)

Well, I haven't used Netscape regularly since 4.7. However it certainly is useful today as a new round of IE browser hijackings have struck lately. I've had 3 computers locked into about:blank and running sp.html. They are a ***** to remove too!


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## firephoto (Sep 12, 2002)

Firefox, Thunderbird, and any others will be the main products once they reach 1.0 version.

http://www.mozilla.org/roadmap.html


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

I was never real clear on whether Mozilla will survive. I never quite knew why I needed a broswer and an email client to be linked. But I know some like Mozilla over Firebird.

When I look at that roadmap it seems to say that Mozilla is going away but then it has an update saying that seamonkey will remain. I once asked over there what the difference between Mozilla and Seamonkey and I was told that Seamonkey was a codeword for new development of what is now Mozilla. To me that is just confusing. But if I understand correctly there will still be an integraed peoduct and the stand alone ones.

But who is paying for all this now? Or is that an inappropriate question when it comes to the internet?


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## HappyGoLucky (Jan 11, 2004)

Geronimo said:


> I was never real clear on whether Mozilla will survive. I never quite knew why I needed a broswer and an email client to be linked. But I know some like Mozilla over Firebird.
> 
> When I look at that roadmap it seems to say that Mozilla is going away but then it has an update saying that seamonkey will remain. I once asked over there what the difference between Mozilla and Seamonkey and I was told that Seamonkey was a codeword for new development of what is now Mozilla. To me that is just confusing. But if I understand correctly there will still be an integraed peoduct and the stand alone ones.
> 
> But who is paying for all this now? Or is that an inappropriate question when it comes to the internet?


Firefox is codename for the browser. Thunderbird is the codename for the email client. Seamonkey is the codename for the combined suite. Most of the new code for the browser and email client are also incorporated into the codebase for the suite, though there can be differences. The browser has two codebases, the trunk is the "bleeding edge" and contains the latest features, fixes, and bugs. The branch is code that has sprouted off of the trunk at one point and is on to becoming a released version. This code is more stable as it has more extensive debugging of the base code before anything new is added. There is another codebase called the Aviary that is part of the branch code. This is essentially the "release candidate" code that is being actively tested and debugged for eventual release.

Personally, I prefer the branch code as it is more stable. I'm currently using one of the Aviary builds by a third party based on one of the recent Release Candidate codes. There are many third-party builders besides the official ones. These third-party builders can incorporate patches and optimizations that the official builds do not have and thus can be faster or more stable (or not, sometimes). Some of these patches and optimizations may make it into the official code at some point. Some won't. The build I'm using makes use of optimized code from a guy who has taken it upon himself to dig into the base code of the browser and rewrite the rendering engines for jpeg and gif rendering, as well as some memory management, using SSE and SSE2 code which results in far more efficient, and thus faster, performance. The difference is exceptionally noticeable and appreciated.


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

I understand what Firefox, Thunderbird and SeaMonkey refer to. I just think that it is confusing to sometimes refer to the combined suite as Sea Monkey aand sometimes as SeaMonkey. The standalone browser is always Firefox (except when it was Phoenix or Thunderbird) and the mail was alawys Thunderbird. Why two names for the combined suite?

I used to use third part builds of Firebird. I stopped beause some of my favorite extensions simply would not run with some of them. But use what works for you. 

Thanks again for help in getting 0.9 installed. It runs but I am still stuck with the defailt theme and no extensions.


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## lee635 (Apr 17, 2002)

i tried mozilla some time ago but had some problems. I just downloaded netscape 7.1 and it seems to work fine.


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## HappyGoLucky (Jan 11, 2004)

Geronimo said:


> I understand what Firefox, Thunderbird and SeaMonkey refer to. I just think that it is confusing to sometimes refer to the combined suite as Sea Monkey aand sometimes as SeaMonkey. The standalone browser is always Firefox (except when it was Phoenix or Thunderbird) and the mail was alawys Thunderbird. Why two names for the combined suite?
> 
> I used to use third part builds of Firebird. I stopped beause some of my favorite extensions simply would not run with some of them. But use what works for you.
> 
> Thanks again for help in getting 0.9 installed. It runs but I am still stuck with the defailt theme and no extensions.


Whether it is called Sea Monkey or SeaMonkey just depends on who types it. There isn't two names, just two methods of typing the name depending on who does the typing. I'm not sure which one is the official way.

Why you can't install themes and extensions I do not know. After some initial problems with them and the new theme and extension managers, things have settled down and most everything is now working as it should. I've installed several themes and am running with several extensions without any problem.


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## HappyGoLucky (Jan 11, 2004)

lee635 said:


> i tried mozilla some time ago but had some problems. I just downloaded netscape 7.1 and it seems to work fine.


Netscape 7.1 is based on a very old version of Mozilla. There have been vast improvements and additions since then.


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

I used Netscape and Mozilla in the past, but they rank below the old Netscape Communicator IMO. I used to be a big Netscape advocate back in the days of 3.X and Communicator 4.X. I'll just stick to IE, I don't like either alternative web browser.


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## HappyGoLucky (Jan 11, 2004)

Steve Mehs said:


> I used Netscape and Mozilla in the past, but they rank below the old Netscape Communicator IMO. I used to be a big Netscape advocate back in the days of 3.X and Communicator 4.X. I'll just stick to IE, I don't like either alternative web browser.


To me, the new Firefox is lightyears more advanced than IE, and even moreso than the old Netscape or Mozilla. I can't imagine working without it now, being able to configure it, and I mean REALLY configure it, any way I want, limited only by your own imagination, really. When I'm on someone else's computer is when I really miss it. I get so frustrated having to move the mouse up and clicking on the "back" button instead of simply holding down the right mouse button and clicking the left button, for instance. Or seeing new windows open instead of just a tab...


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

I have no problems with IE

I really hate my e-mail clients, Outlook, Outlook 2003, Outlook Express. None work like I need! All are bug laden and cause my system to suffer.

What I need is an e-mail client with the look and feel of Outlook, but works. It should also allow a license for me to use on more than one computer that is linked via briefcase Lan. i.e. What I need is to have my e-mail account auto update so I can access my e-mail archive no matter what terminal I sit at. I have 7 computers here. 3 of them operate under 3 different identities. One more computer is my on the road laptop and I need to have it's e-mail archive mirror what is on that lan while I'm away and when I return, would like for the lan connection to auto update the other base computers to the new archives that I added while on the road. I don't need to see the other identities on the road.

Briefcase does this for all my other files in the briefcase but with Outlook I need to do an import and export process to make it work. This is very time consuming and not at all simple to coordinate the duplicates among the other lan based computers. Currently, I have 3 e-mail archive data bases to briefcase and search through to find an old e-mail record. It's a mess!


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

Do you access your mail via POP3 or IMAP? Most people use POP3 mail accounts that basically download the messages to your computer then deletes them from the mail server. This is often recommended by most ISPs because either the mailbox is "capped" at a certain size, or you incur additional charges if your mailbox exceeds a certain size.

IMAP, on the other hand, keeps the messages on the server and allows you to access the mail from several locations. The message is kept on the server until you purge it from the system, and is oftem not retrieved (beyond the headers) until you explicitly request the message. However, while some e-mail clients support IMAP access, they do not support filtering of IMAP messages. thus you have to use either procmail or exim (if they are available) to do incoming message filtering. Outlook Express does *not* filter IMAP or HTTP mailboxes. Dunno about the other mail clients, since guess where most of the support calls are for? Outlook Express and Outlook.

If your ISP doesn't support IMAP, they will most often suggest that you turn on the leave mail on server option in the mail program. This allows you to download the mail but keeps it on the server. One problem with leaving the message on the server is that mail tends to accumulate (lord knows how many mailboxes I've cleaned out because of this). Some mail clients (Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird 0.7.1, Eudora) have a safety valve option that will delete the messages off the server after a few days.

I access both my work and personal e-mail through IMAP. At work, it's through Outlook Express while at home, I've been trying out Mozilla Thunderbird 7.1. My mail filtering is done at the server side, so I haven't tried out Thunderbirds mail filtering controls. When I'm at school, I access my e-mail through a web-mail interface called SquirrelMail which also also access my personal mailbox through IMAP.

Your ISP _may_ support IMAP, but doesn't advertise it because of problems of people not purging the mailbox of deleted or the lack of mail filtering capabilities in the mail client. The best way is to ask technical support. (If you get a "hhhuuuhhhh????" from tech support, ask to be transfered to a senior/advanced tech). The mail server at work, the web hosting service, and Sac State all support IMAP, but my high-speed provider doesn't.

For more information on IMAP, see http://www.imap.org/


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

Mark- I was aware of that solution but as you stated, the mail box fills up to quickly.
I also get mail with attachments, large sound files 3-5 megs and those absolutely must be cleared off.

What I want is really simple. Just a way for the e-mail to be updated by the briefcase and auto loaded without needing to export and import. A friend of mine (MCSE) said that win XP Pro and office 2003 or outlook 2003 supports what I want but I don't have XP Pro yet.


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

HappyGoLucky said:


> Whether it is called Sea Monkey or SeaMonkey just depends on who types it. T-.


THe two names I was referrign to are Seamonkey and Mozilla.


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## HappyGoLucky (Jan 11, 2004)

Geronimo said:


> THe two names I was referrign to are Seamonkey and Mozilla.


Ah, well "Seamonkey" is simply the codename for the next version of the Mozilla Suite. The name "Mozilla" refers to an official released version of the suite by the Mozilla Org.


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## Steveox (Apr 21, 2004)

Netscape is not dead. Nether explorer is dead. Heres info on netscape and explorer.
Netscape
Explorer


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

HappyGoLucky said:


> Ah, well "Seamonkey" is simply the codename for the next version of the Mozilla Suite. The name "Mozilla" refers to an official released version of the suite by the Mozilla Org.


So why bother? especially when the name Moziall is also commonly used to refer to nightlies, news of developemt etc.


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## firephoto (Sep 12, 2002)

http://tinderbox.mozilla.org/showbuilds.cgi

* Aviary-1.0
* BlueBird
* Bugzilla
* Bugzilla2.16
* Camino
* Firefox
* Firefox-1.0
* MiniMo
* Mozilla1.0
* Mozilla1.4
* Mozilla1.5
* Mozilla1.6
* MozillaTest
* NSS
* Phoenix
* SeaMonkey
* SeaMonkey-Branch
* SeaMonkey-Embed
* SeaMonkey-Embedding-Branch
* SeaMonkey-OEM
* SeaMonkey-Ports
* SeaMonkey-Testerbox
* Testing
* Thunderbird



Why keep things simple when you can stir the pot?


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## HappyGoLucky (Jan 11, 2004)

Geronimo said:


> So why bother? especially when the name Moziall is also commonly used to refer to nightlies, news of developemt etc.


Most software developers use codenames for the working code base that is different from the release product. Such as "Longhorn" for Microsoft's next version of Windows. The "alpha" products of that are called Windows, but it is still referred to as "Longhorn".

The working code for the Mozilla project is Firefox, Seamonkey, Thunderbird, etc. Eventually, released products will be called Mozilla (unless that also changes but there has been no mention of that). The individual pieces of the suite will probably still be referred to as Firefox and Thunderbird, though, also that too is subject to change.


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

My complaint HGL is that the terms are used interchangeably. It simply creates confusion.


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## HappyGoLucky (Jan 11, 2004)

Geronimo said:


> My complaint HGL is that the terms are used interchangeably. It simply creates confusion.


True, in the developer circles they do tend to toss all the terms around equally, and it's up to you to pick up the context in order to know which they are referring. I still get confused myself, and I participate in those forums daily.


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

Apparently, Netscape 7.2 gets released the week of August 3rd.


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## HappyGoLucky (Jan 11, 2004)

Mark Holtz said:


> Apparently, Netscape 7.2 gets released the week of August 3rd.


Any Netscape release, though, is based on code that is typically months, if not more, behind that of Firefox/Mozilla.


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## Steveox (Apr 21, 2004)

Netscape 7.2 comming soon!! Heres what i copy of my e-mail

Netscape 7.2, built with Mozilla™, is faster and has enhanced security and popup controls. It is scheduled to ship at the end of August, and it's free.

New features of Netscape 7.2:

* Popup Window Controls block mouseover pop-ups and limit the number of popup ads when you set the popup windows control preference to "off."
* Password Manager allows you to display saved passwords.
* vCard support in Netscape Mail.
* Palm Sync improvements.
* Table editing controls in Composer.
* New Macromedia Flash 7 plug-in for Windows.
* Improvements in browser rendering speed, application start-up, and standards supports.


Can't wait until it ships later this month? Pre-order today and get the CD along with a guidebook that explains how to use the cool new features of the Netscape 7.2 browser.


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## eichenberg (Apr 3, 2003)

Steveox said:


> Netscape 7.2 comming soon!! Heres what i copy of my e-mail
> 
> Netscape 7.2, built with Mozilla™, is faster and has enhanced security and popup controls. It is scheduled to ship at the end of August, and it's free.
> 
> ...


 I just clicked on the Netscape logo in the upper right hand corner to go to the netscape.com home page and I was taken to a screen telling me to upgrade to 7.2. It had a link to be able to download and install today, which I did.


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## Steveox (Apr 21, 2004)

eichenberg said:


> I just clicked on the Netscape logo in the upper right hand corner to go to the netscape.com home page and I was taken to a screen telling me to upgrade to 7.2. It had a link to be able to download and install today, which I did.


I thought netscape 7.2 is fast.All it does is pauses.Im going back to 7.1 this **** sucks.
I just found out it cant go back to 7.1 cause once its downloaded wont go back.


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## Neil Derryberry (Mar 23, 2002)

I'm running Mozilla Firefox 0.9.1 - I'd stick with that instead of the commercialized Netscape version.


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