General

Thinking Outside The (Windows) Box,
Part II: Free Web Browsers—Netscape

While many businesses depend on Microsoft and its various product suites, alternatives exist, some of which are not well known. Part two of this series examines free alternative web browsers.

by Lisa Phifer VP Core Competence, Inc. [December 30, 2005]

It has been a few years since we ran Netscape here, so we installed the latest (version 8.0.4) on Windows XP SP2. Netscape also runs on Windows 98, ME, and 2000, with a minimum 35 MB of free disk space and 64 MB RAM. Older versions of this full featured browser are available for Mac OS X and Linux, in many languages.

Netscape Browser browser.netscape.com/ns8 Netscape Communications Mountain View, CA

Netscape's maturity (and relative complexity) is apparent right from the start, when the installer gives you a choice of themes, requests your zip code for localization, and offers to install a limited set of partner software (e.g., Desktop Weather, Real Rhapsody). Netscape not only offers to import IE settings—it actually lets you choose between the IE or Firefox rendering engines. But you are not stuck with the choice made at install time. You can toggle between IE and Firefox engines at any time by clicking an icon at the lower left corner (see figure at right). As this figure illustrates, IE and Firefox page displays often differ, depending on use of proprietary tags and content types, so it can be very convenient to have this choice literally at your fingertips. With Netscape 8, you get a browser with the benefits and vulnerabilities of both worlds.

Engines aside, Netscape does have its own browser application, chock full of nifty usability features. Like the others, Netscape supports tabbed browsing (with group save) and integrated search engines (with drag and drop text searching). Netscape's unique Multibar approach can be used to create up to 10 custom toolbars, composed of bookmarks and live content (RSS feeds). For example, this "Local" toolbar includes the outside temperature (Weather) and a map search form (Mapquest)—see figure at right. Multibars can be handy, and scrolling through them does reduce clutter. There's also a MySidebar, providing integrated access to related applications like News, Mail, and AOL Instant Messenger. As a result of this customization, everyone's browser is likely to look rather different, and you'll probably end up with plenty of glitz.

Like Firefox, Netscape has a Passcard to save and auto enter passwords, protected by a master password. And like Deepnet, Netscape has a FormFill feature. Given that your master password unlocks plenty of sensitive data, choosing a good password is important. Fortunately, when you're configuring your master password in Netscape, a strength meter helps you judge whether that password is too simple and easy to guess.

Like IE, Netscape can vary its security treatment by website/domain. But Netscape's extensive Site Controls are based on Verisign's Trust Rating system (see figure at right). Whenever you visit a page, the tab displays a tiny colored shield that indicates whether the site is known to be trustworthy or untrustworthy. This list of known sites is updated regularly, at a configurable interval. If a visited site isn't among those rated by Verisign, it receives the default rating "I'm Not Sure." You can change default ratings and Pop Up blocking for a given site by visiting the site and clicking the shield. A Site List presents settings for all previously visited domains, although there doesn't seem to be a way of adding a new site to the list without trying to visit it.

Netscape incorporates many security features, dictated in part by which rendering engine you are using. Advanced options let you clear private data at browser exit, enable/disable supported security protocols, and manage the browser's auto update settings. In short, Netscape is the kitchen sink of browsers—one big fat bundle of application widgets and rendering engines, all living together under one roof.

 

Free Windows Web Browsers: Deepnet Explorer

Free Windows Web Browsers: Firefox

Free Windows Web Browsers: Netscape

>Free Windows Web Browsers: Off By One

Free Windows Web Browsers: Opera, and Conclusion