Hey, Netscape 8.01 Is Now Rv 1.7.5!

I just opened Netscape 8.01 and a message popped up from my systray like a Download Complete one does. It said I have new Personal Toolbar Icons available and listed a bunch of them.

I checked in Help, About Netscape Browser and it still shows 8.01. But in the string "Mozilla 5.0, etc" it now says rv 1.7.5 instead of 1.7.3!

Is Firefox up to 1.7.5 yet? I think AOL pushed an update.

Perhaps Netscape users now have a newer version of Firefox than Firefox users?

Interesting stuff.

And, I wonder whether they fixed that Internet Explorer XML thing.

Edit: Ohhh. Mozilla is up to 1.7.8. Firefox is 1.0.4. Never mind. If anything it's an older version of Mozilla. Well, anyway something got installed there or I wouldn't have gotten that popup.

 

NS8 update

Just tried using the Help>Help & Support page and "fishing" around netscape for any kind of update/upgrade and got zilch, nada, zip.

Tried Options>Advanced and selected "Check Now" and got back, "No current updates found. "

Oh, well, the NS8 "weirdnesses" continue (??).
Bob

 

Bob,

Under: Tools | Options | Advanced | Software Update
Do you have "Automatically download and install updates" enabled? If so, I would disable that option, and let Netscape ask before installing anything. I never let any application do anything automatically...

You can relax, because Netscape didn't download a patch, and your UA String should read like this:
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; rv:1.7.5) Gecko/20050519 Netscape/8.0.1.
It has always been rv:1.7.5.


Ramona

 

Auto Updates -- that's a big, big NO-NO!

Ramona,

Or said another way, "I don't need no stinkin' auto-updates!

Just don't trust anything automated on the internet. That's my motto. But thanks for asking.

Bob

 

Okay, then the version is the same. And I also have set the option to notify me of updates (it was set that way by default, perhaps I chose that in setup).

But I did get the popup message informing me of new stuff available for Personal Toolbar. If it didn't install something by itself without informing me then I guess it knows I have nothing but the 2 Netscape links in my Personal Toolbar. Maybe it's setup to remind folks to use the thing. I've got it unchecked, with the only bar showing being the navigation bar and having the System Mail, Search, and URL Window in it.

 

No popups here? I wonder what that's about, as I haven't seen a thing on the Netscape Browser Forums or the Netscape 8 NG. I have the Personal Toolbar down to nothing but my Bookmarks, so maybe that's why?

Ramona

 

I vdon't trust NS8.01, for a variety of reasons, and it has been 1.7.5, like 8.0, and 8.0 beta. None of the security fixes which are found in FF1.0.4 (based on 1.7.8) have made to this new NS. As for the stuff available, it is not really a popup, in the real sense of the word. This is a slowly arising thing in the general neighborhood of the systray which did not stay long enough to read. And, I think that it did not reoccur, after my first visit to customize.
AOL pushing an update? You must be kidding. They will throw at you everything which they have, but security comes last. Sorry, I had been an AOL user too long.

 

Yes, I understand I got my versions mixed up and that's why I edited the first post. I just saw 1.7.5 and thought of the Firefox 04 (forgetting that it was 1.04) and got all excited.

I guess that bringup, popup, whatever was just a "friendly" reminder.

Westside,

I'm confused by your saying that it doesn't have the security fixes through Firefox 1.4. AOL says Netscape 8.01 has those. And they claim to be developing another patch up for the problem that has Microsoft recommending everybody uninstall Netscape to fix. I don't know, but they seem to be committed to fixing up problems they are made aware of. The problem that caused me to originally switch to Mozilla from the Netscape 7.1 days was that AOL had abandoned development and fired all the developers, so for security and bug fixes it was necessary to look elsewhere for a browser. So I switched to Mozilla and then with Firefox 1.0 to Firefox.

To this point I'm happy with the product as long as it allows for user customizations. And it does that. I just used the provided tools and put stuff where I wanted it. Since first installing it on my other 98 box, I discovered that unchecking "Use Internet Explorer Automatically" in the setup dialog makes going through all the Trust settings to adjust them unnecessary. It just uses Firefox rendering unless either I change the site from the lower left icon or it's one of the sites listed in settings for IE (like Windows Update and Microsoft sites). And, by using the Netscape Trust system, it will automatically turn off JavaScript for known bad sites. It's a good thing that it checks every hour to update the list too. I've even got Yahoo in my Search dropdown.

I too have tried AOL (twice!), in my case because of a couple of offers of several months free when I was particularly economically challenged. I had both times went real quick like to the marketing and media settings and opted out of everything and told the program to leave my media players alone. I also told it to not send me offers on startup (or ever) and not to load the Buddy List. This made it bearable. I don't remember receiving any of their known annoying stuff. Just updates to their program. I left both times because I just didn't like that big monster of a program needing to be on even if I wasn't using their browser. And, it didn't like a few programs I have either. QSound QMaxII gave it fits. I had to disable AOL sounds or turn off QSound. Since I now have Comcast Cable I can no longer be tempted (although they still try)!

Netscape 8 seems to me so far to be just like Firefox, but a Plus version. Unlike many others I kind of like the default Fusion skin too.

If AOL continues development and updates I'll stick with it. If it turns out to be a monster system intruder (like the AOL ISP software), or a security risk, then it's wonderful to know that we have the open source Firefox to use. And, I enjoyed using that as well. I just feel like I'm still using it, but with some nice added features.

 

I can't test 8.0.1, because I removed it. I was referring to the upgates for vulnerabilities seported by Secunia, which led from Firefox 1.01( v.1.7.5), 1.0.2 (v1.7.6), 1.0.3 (v.1.7.70 and Firefox1.0.4(v.1.7.8). NS8.0.1 is like Firefox 1.0.1, and so, vulnerable in a number of ways. Secunia has no information about NS8.0.1, and some vulnerability is present in 8 beta, also labelled as 1.7.5 .
So unless the gecko numbers don't count with AOL, NS8.0.1 has not been fixed.
I am not, necessarily, taking these vulnerability too seriously, but I surely would not use a vulnerable browser, on a regular basis. I had seen enough of 8 beta in three different releases, and in my opinion, 8.01. is worse than 8 beta.
AOL has surprised me, initially, for its ineptness, and it does not bother me too much. I have seen worse intruders than AOL.
The software, as you may know, is not made in house, so, things are bound to be slow, and who knows what are the instructions for mercurial.ca.
At this point there have been "patches" to fix problem caused by the branding, but I don't see that anything new has been done to fix the vulnerabilities which were found in Mozilla and Firefox.

 

Okay, you helped convince me. What also helped was a ton of temp files loaded into my temp folder by Netscape. The thing reminded me of my AOL days. I don't know what it did, but it might have been related to the promised Internet Explorer fix. I do know that that registry entry Microsoft said to delete after uninstalling Netscape was no longer there before or after I uninstalled Netscape.

Strangely, when I went browsing a little with my newly installed Firefox, ZoneAlarm said that Firefox was requesting to Receive from the net. I had already given permission for access. After I gave it permission, I noticed some activity going on. When I checked ZoneAlarm's Program Preferences, I saw that I had given Firefox trusted server permission. I changed it back to "ask. "

I looked in the temp folder and noticed an NStemp folder and an xml file. Within the NStemp folder there were child folders and in a "bin" folder were some Java 5 files. Now, I had emptied the Temp folders and run jv16powertools and wiped Netscape off the system after uninstalling it, as well as deleting the Netscape folder and the profile folder. So these are new activities that were performed by Firefox.

I had already added whatever plugin files that Firefox didn't install automatically from the saved Netscape Plugin folder. And I had reinstalled WMP10 and restarted all my media players to resort my file associations. (The WMP10 reinstall was needed to get the WMP10 embedded player to open when called for by Firefox. Without reinstalling it, the WMP6 player opened but couldn't play the files.)

I tested all, including Shockwave (for which I had remembered to uninstall the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 4.0 fix before removing Netscape, and reinstall the "Load Library CWD" fix for Firefox). Everything works.

But why did Firefox deem it necessary to install some more stuff as a server? This never occured before.

 

I, also, have Zone Alarm, and I give trusted access to Firefox1.0.4, and Deer Park alpha1, but I don't recall being ask for Server setting. I know that they do. In fact, I just did a purge.
As WMP goes, these days one needs WMP9 or 10, for embedded players, and they get confused over that. One site insists that I "upgrade" to WMP9, from 10!

 

Westside,

If you are referring to this Security Advisory:
http://secunia.com/advisories/15437/

The two vulnerabilities were addressed in Netscape 8.0.1, or perhaps you're referring to something that I don't know about?

Ramona

 

Netscape 8.0

What's your take on the new version of Netscape?

Can I install it in another location and keep my Version 7.2 as an independent program?

If I decide to replace my 7.2 version, do I install 8.0 in the same location over the 7.2 version or should I remove version 7.2 first?

What about address books and bookmarks - can they be translated to the newer version?

 

You don't have to worry about the installation location. NS8 has no mail, so nop ABs, but you will be prompted to get the settings from the browser of your choice. I found that Moz1.7.x was the best, and firefox was the most, so I did a lot of removing program and profile. Eventually, I settle with Moz1.7.x settings for NS8 beta, and the final versions imported ther beta settings. The biggest challenge for those who are not familiar with the program, is to make best use of its toolbars.

 

Thanks for the quick reply. Looks like I have a challenge on my hands.

 

It is no challenge to get it started. Just keep your eyes open.
The challange comes later, when you set up 8.x. I suggest, again, that you check all options (preferences), and don't expect that everything be like a previous program. If you expect to work for you as have been with an older Netscape, it won't.