Announcement at uFAQ - Netscape 9

A fellow poster (Westside) alerted me to this announcement which I share with you. It does not exactly excite me for several reasons. Here it is:

ANNOUNCING NETSCAPE 9

What you are looking at is a draft of the main toolbar of Netscape 9.0, running on Windows XP.

Netscape 9 will be a standalone browser, and from this screenshot, you can infer several things: unlike Netscape 8, Netscape 9 will contain support for newsfeeds (a.k.a. Live Bookmarks); it will also have tight integration with the Netscape.com service, as evidenced by the icons for the two available Netscape.com extensions (Friends' Activity Sidebar and the Sitemail Notifier). Several Netscape.com-based extensions will be built into the browser; only these two have been previously announced.

I'll be posting a new announcement, feature teaser, or progress report right here each Tuesday, so stay tuned.

 

See this page for further information concerning Netscape 9:

Netscape 9 Announcement

 

It seems that many of the posts in this forum have to do with problems users have with Netscape, and I ask myself "Why do they bother with Netscape, when Firefox is such a good browser?" If all they want is a portal, they can use any service they want.

Which brings me to the suites ... the older Netscape Communicator and Mozilla suites, and the current Seamonkey suite. I used Netscape Communicator for years, and the only two components I used were the Navigator browser and the Messenger email client. I have to wonder just how many users use anything other than those two components, which are available, and far more configurable, in the standalone Firefox and Thunderbird.

In all seriousness, can anyone enlighten me?

 

Like you, Jim, I also used Netscape for years (until 7.2). When development stopped on 7.2 and security issues arose, I tried Opera, reverted back to IE of all things and then eventually switched over to Firefox and Thunderbird. But a few weeks back when SeaMonkey 1.1 became final, I thought I'd give it a try. I like it and I can't really say why. After all, Firefox has great extensions! SeaMonkey always lags behind. Firefox and Thunderbird work well together (I use the quick launch button so it's almost as though the e-mail client was part of an integrated suite. But... I can't really say what it is about SM that attracts me. I find that I've used it almost exclusively since I installed it. No, I don't use anything but the e-mail and the browser so I can't identify my reasons for preferring it over FF/TB. I will definitely download NS 9 when it becomes available. As for the e-mail client... perhaps I'll use TB and perhaps keep SM explicitly for this. Hey... they're even talking about updating 7.2 for crying out loud. Have you any idea how many people still use 7.2? There are many. In fact, some of my friends still use it and refuse to use anything else even though it has security issues. Go figure.

 

There some reasons why a lot of people won't change.
1.They may have dialup, and it takes time to download a program. One way or other, the large files are too much.
2.People don't want to change anything at all.
3.Lazyness
4.lazyness,and more of it

By the way, if Netscape7.x was attractive, Seamonkey is very much like it, so it may be desirable.
I am checking everything, and hang on every program which is not giving a hard time.

 

Good points. Actually you're right on the money when you mentioned dial-up hindering some folks (my friends) and laziness or a reluctance to change. I like change and like trying new things. SeaMonkey does remind me a lot of NS 7.2 and that very well could be the reason I can't seem to go back to FF/TB now. My wife, however, refuses to budge. She loves FF/TB and that's just the way it's going to be! lol

 

I guess there's a lot of truth in the old adage that one man's trash is another man's treasure. I didn't like Netscape 7.x at all, finding it only marginally better than Netscape 6.x, which is why I switched to FF/TB in the first place.

And, it's not just laziness ... it's also ignorance. I'm reminded of an acquaintance whose 19" monitor was set at 800x600 (the manufacturer's setting, believe it or not). He not only didn't know how to change the resolution, he didn't know that he could change it.

 

Jim,
you got it. Ignorance is a main reason. But ignorance is a product of laziness.

 

... or lack of interest. We need to remind ourselves that most folks who have computers and are connected to the internet, never post to forums such as these. We represent a very small percentage of people who bother with such things. My sister, for instance, is connected and rarely bothers to check her e-mail. I literally have to call her on the telephone to tell her to check it! My daughter is yet another example. They have broadband but she and her husband are seldom online. In fact, all of the people with whom I work are connected to the internet and yet few of them are online on a daily basis. They're simply involved in other things: reading, travel, work, sports, outdoor pursuits, hobbies ... and the internet and anything connected with it (i.e. browsers and so forth) are simply marginal in their concerns. They could care less what browser they use and whether one is more this or that than another.

 

James, your post sums it up very nicely. Most of the users I know simply aren't interested ... either in their computers, or spending time online.

 

Absolutely!!!
But, it depends on the available time. I was always interested in new things, but only after retirement I have had the time to do anything new.