Netscape Browser (or Netscape 8) is the eighth major release of the Netscape series of web browsers, now all discontinued. It was published by AOL, but developed by Mercurial Communications, and originally released for Windows on May 19, 2005.
Netscape Browser was the first browser of the Netscape series to be based on Mozilla Firefox, as opposed to Netscape versions 6 and 7 which were based on Mozilla Application Suite. Also, Netscape 6 and 7 were Internet suites whereas Netscape Browser (version 8) was solely a web browser.
As with other recent versions, it incorporates support for AOL Instant Messenger, and other AOL-related features.
Netscape Browser was succeeded by Netscape Navigator 9, which reverted to the Navigator name.
Release history and milestones
The browser was finally released on May 19, 2005. A minor update known as version 8.0.1 was released a few hours later to incorporate the key security patches added in Firefox 1.0.4.
Features
Perhaps the most noteworthy feature introduced in Netscape Browser is the ability to use either of two layout engines to render websites — either Internet Explorer 6's Trident layout engine or the Gecko engine used by Mozilla and its derivatives. This is used as part of the browser's "Site Controls" system, which allows security settings to be altered on a per-site basis, and is also touted as a defense against phishing and similar attacks, with both blacklists and whitelists built in and automatically updated regularly. This system decides whether a site is "trusted" or "suspect", while only whitelisted sites use the Trident engine by default.
However, this feature is actually implemented by using the IE ActiveX control, which is composed of most of IE's architectures.
Other features highlighted by AOL's publicity include improved tabbed browsing abilities, a toolbar system called the "MultiBar," which includes up to 10 toolbars in the space of one, and extra support for "Live Content", such as RSS feeds. In keeping with the security emphasis, a new secure form information and password management system, known as a "PassCard," which saves usernames and passwords for individual sites, is also included.
In Netscape version 8.1, the Security Center feature is much more integrated into the browser, and extra features, such as ID Theft Protection and Spyware Protection have been integrated.
Netscape includes a host of "widgets" designed to improve the browsing experience, including Local Weather information, Movie Times and reviews, Mapquest maps, Yellow pages, White pages, Stocks, and a City guide, all integrated into menu-enabled toolbar buttons.
Furthermore, a webmail button is included in the toolbar, which links directly to multiple webmail homepages and is configurable for multiple webmail accounts. A button to run the user's default mail client is included.
There are multiple smaller features included, including a shortcut menu that appears when text is selected to paste the selected text directly into a search engine of choice.
Finally, the browser includes a pop-up advertisement blocker which can be configured to allow pop-ups for individual sites, block only unrequested pop-ups, and open any pop-ups in new tabs in one window, thus preventing pop-unders.
Criticism
The Netscape Browser has been criticized for various reasons. Perhaps the most severe is the claim that, in contradiction to its claimed emphasis on security, its use of both the Trident and Gecko rendering engines means it unavoidably inherits all the vulnerabilities of both engines, making it potentially less secure than either Firefox or IE on their own.
Renderer modality problems
The switching between rendering engines may also confuse users, since the web browsing experience is very different depending on which is used. A standards based website will generally render better in Gecko thanks to its better standards support, but Netscape Browser renders whitelisted pages using Trident instead. "As the switching is transparent to the user, users are left wondering why their experience changes randomly across different websites".