Should I upgrade?

I'm running Netscape 4.79, under Win95, and Netscape is starting to get a little bit unstable again. My question is, should I just reinstall 4.79, or upgrade to 7.x? I avoided the 6.x series, because everything I heard about it indicated that it was too buggy - too "beta" - to be useful as my everyday browser. (I also use Netscape for email and newsgroups, so I depend on it a lot.) I haven't seen too many comments here about Netscape 7.x, though. How stable is it? How useful is it (i.e., will it do email and news)? How compatible is it with older systems? In short - should I upgrade to Netscape 7.x?
Thanks in advance...

 

acelightning,

As I have seen in many posts, Netscape 6.x and 7.x are not upgrades. They are separate programs. Download 7.01 and try it. I use it on one of my Aptivas and it works pretty good. I did not download the email part of it though. I wanted to make sure that it works before I do that.

If you want to keep 4.79, try completely removing it and reinstall. Just copy your Users folder so that you can replace the info there. Here is a link for reinstalling. Just follow all the instructions and that should clear things up for you.

Do try the full version of 7.01 and let us know what you think.

 

I've uninstalled and reinstalled 4.79 a time or two already, as well as upgrading each time a new version came out (starting with Netscape 3.x!). I know that 6.x and 7 aren't "upgrades" in the same sense... what I'm trying to determine is whether leaving 4.79 behind and going to 7.x is a good idea for me.

Do you know now whether the email and newgroup functions of Netscape 7 are okay? And can 4.79 and 7.x coexist on the same machine?

 

Wait a month -- and go for it....

I was at 4.76 intil this spring, moved to 6.2.2, six weeks ago installed 7.0 preview. With a few minor problems, I have grown very fond of the browser, including its email client. (must install AIM with it). I still have 4.76 installed as my second browser, I've never had to use it. BUT.. a few other suggestions. Netscape is releasing 7.0 final at the end of the month(???). I would suggest waiting a couple of weeks later, if no new suprises, install it. Also, I can't remember system requirements, but see mine below, the program works fine with that.
Good luck.

 

Wow, I'm glad to hear that they're releasing the "final" version soon. You're right - I'll wait a couple more weeks for that.

(What do you mean, though, by "you have to install AIM" in order to use the email function?)

I'm running Win95 myself, so if it runs okay on your system, it ought to work just as well on mine. Thanks!

 

< What do you mean, though, by "you have to install AIM" in order to use the email function? >

Capitalism at it's best(?). Netscape requires you to install AIM if you want to use the email client. Since AOL owns netscape, call it captive marketing or any other pet name. Other than the extra disk storage, it's not a big deal. If you have no need for a IM, just don't use it. (But it must be included in the install). In preferences uncheck AIM for autoload... if for some reason you do, there is a icon on the screen which quickly loads the program. The browser is very user friendly.

< I'm running Win95 myself, so if it runs okay on your system, it ought to work just as well on mine. >

Works fine with w95, but check further into the hardware. 7.0 is a large and somewhat demanding program. These are the suggested min requirements.....
Pentium 233 MHz, 64MB RAM, 26MB free HD space.

 

Well, I hate to install unnecessary components, but if the email won't work without it... *sigh*

I've got plenty of room - I just recently added a 20 GB hard drive, in addition to the 8 GB drive the machine came with. I've got 64 meg of RAM (also what it came with), and a 128-meg stick on its way. And it's a Pentium II 350. So it looks as if I've got everything I need... now I just have to wait for the "final release" version to appear.

Thanks again.

 

Not entirely true. You need to install AIM (called NIM, i.e. Netscape Instant Messenger) if you want to use Netscape Mail 6+/7 to access to Netscape WebMail. You don't need to install AIM (or NIM) if you don't have Netscape WebMail account OR you simply just access Netscape WebMail via web interface.

Your Netscape Mail (6+/7) will function as it should be without AIM installed, just can't retrieve mails from your Netscape WebMail account.

 

I'm sure I have a Netscape Webmail account, but I've never used it for anything, nor have I ever given out the address. I use Netscape to access a POP3 account on my local ISP (although my outgoing mail goes through my DSL provider).

I assume this means I can disable, or not install, or remove, AIM, when I install Netscape 7?

 

acelightning,

Sorry for the delay in answering, I've been a little busy. No problem though. It looks like your question has been answered. And yes, from what I've heard, the two versions can coexist.

Mike

 

Yes, you can.

 

Okay, thanks, guys - I guess it's just a matter of waiting until the final release of 7.0 comes out.