GPL: VROC and Netscape versions

On the VROC site it says that support for Netscape versions 4.0x is going away soon and that everybody should upgrade to 4.5. I'm a little confused because the most current version of the standalone browser (Navigator) is 4.08. Netscape Communicator, which is a full suite of tools in addition to Navigator (e-mail, calendar, etc.) is version 4.5. Is the browser bundled with Communicator really different than the standalone browser? If not, why would we need the full blown Communicator for VROC? Thanks, Dave Ewing

Quoted text (8 lines)

>On the VROC site it says that support for Netscape versions 4.0x is >going away soon and that everybody should upgrade to 4.5. I'm a little >confused because the most current version of the standalone browser >(Navigator) is 4.08. Netscape Communicator, which is a full suite of >tools in addition to Navigator (e-mail, calendar, etc.) is version 4.5. >Is the browser bundled with Communicator really different than the >standalone browser? If not, why would we need the full blown >Communicator for VROC?

It seems as if the pure "Navigator" program has been discontinued. However, the 4.5 Communicator also comes in a package that has only a little more useless stuff than the old "Navigator Gold" versions had. The main new features are a "what's related" function (shows you sites that have content similar to the stuff you're viewing at the moment) and a really annoying "AOL instant messager" that is installed without asking for permission. I got rid of it by removing all references to AOL from the registry. In case you want to download the package, the file name is cb32e45.exe. It's 13 MB, and that is the *smaller* package... My advice would be to stick to the 4.0x version, though, unless you encounter major problems with it. 4.5 isn't nearly as much an improvement over 4.0x as 4.0 was over 3.x. I'm always favoring the underdog, but if Netscape continues to blow up the Navigator with unneeded "features", I might consider switching to IE. -- Wolfgang Preiss \ E-mail copies of replies to this posting are welcome.

% On the VROC site it says that support for Netscape versions 4.0x is % going away soon and that everybody should upgrade to 4.5. I'm a little % confused because the most current version of the standalone browser % (Navigator) is 4.08. Netscape Communicator, which is a full suite of % tools in addition to Navigator (e-mail, calendar, etc.) is version 4.5. % Is the browser bundled with Communicator really different than the % standalone browser? If not, why would we need the full blown % Communicator for VROC? Yeh, ain't this numbering system great! Anyway, the complete package (Communicator) is 4.5, but the first version of Navigator (the browser) included in Communicator 4.5 was 4.07, so I would feel safe with any version of 4.07+ of the Navigator running after upgrades to VROC. BTW: It looks like with Sun winning their injunction against Microsoft, future versions of IE should work on VROC. It would appear that Sun has merit in their lawsuit against Microsoft for intentionally "crippling" java in Win98 and IE. For more details <http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,28938,00.html?st.ne.fd.gif.a>. -- **************************** Michael E. Carver ************************* Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./. [- < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Quoted text (12 lines)

> >On the VROC site it says that support for Netscape versions 4.0x is > >going away soon and that everybody should upgrade to 4.5. I'm a little > >confused because the most current version of the standalone browser > >(Navigator) is 4.08. Netscape Communicator, which is a full suite of > >tools in addition to Navigator (e-mail, calendar, etc.) is version 4.5. > >Is the browser bundled with Communicator really different than the > >standalone browser? If not, why would we need the full blown > >Communicator for VROC? > It seems as if the pure "Navigator" program has been discontinued. > However, the 4.5 Communicator also comes in a package that has only a > little more useless stuff than the old "Navigator Gold" versions had.

I don't think it has been discontinued, at least not yet. I downloaded the stand-alone 4.07 Navigator two or three weeks ago for VROC and have noticed that it is now already up to 4.08. "What's Related" is actually kind of scary, in terms of privacy, and even security. By enabling this you allow a cookie to run on your system, uploading information about your web activities. See http://www.interhack.net/pubs/whatsrelated for more information. I disabled it. Yeah, I did that, too. This really is offensive. Things like this really have turned me off to Netscape. Dave Ewing

Another really annoying new feature, if you use Netscape Messenger for email, is that Messenger now starts up each time by first downloading a welcome page from Netscape's NetCentre. A kind friend just showed me that this "feature" can be disabled by adding the following line to the "prefs.js" file in your Netscape/Users/username directory. user_pref("mailnews.start_page.enabled", false); cheers, -Ferdinand-