Netscape 8

AOL Time Warner has released its latest version of Netscape, and if you haven't used Netscape in a long while, we think it's worth a second look. This version is built on the Gecko engine that powers the Mozilla Firefox browser (AOL Time Warner spun off the Mozilla team as a nonprofit in 2004), but it can also run the same engine as Microsoft Internet Explorer on more than 150,000 sites that have been certified as "trusty" by the TrustE organisation. The result is a very safe browsing environment, complete with pop-up blocking and antiphishing certificate displays. Add to that tabbed browsing, up to 10 different customised toolbars, and live content, such as weather and news, streamed onto your desktop, and you have one exciting browser. Though not everything is perfect (we still like Firefox better), Netscape is among the best alternatives out there. And if Microsoft weren't already feeling the pressure to deliver with Internet Explorer 7 later this year, then Netscape 8 has just put the software giant's feet to the fire.

Download the nearly 12MB file for free, then install Netscape 8 directly on your desktop. You'll be asked to enter your post code, not for marketing information, but so that Netscape can provide you with live weather information for your location. You'll next be asked to import your bookmarks from Firefox or Internet Explorer or from neither (should you want a clean slate). Importing also brings over any cookies or password information necessary to address registration from sites that request it. After we asked Netscape to convert our Internet Explorer bookmarks, it did so without incident. Sites that required password registration loaded perfectly.

Overall, the Netscape 8 interface is clean and pleasantly efficient. Across the top are four main buttons: Back, Forward, Stop/Refresh, and Home. A search box is prominent along the top as well, and you can customise your search engine choice (however, at press time, Google was still the only option available). Adjacent to the address box are four more buttons: Popup Blocker, Passcard, Clear Cache, and Print. We were happy to see that Popup Blocker and Clear Cache are high-level buttons. Within IE, you must dig down through several menus to change these settings. Passcard is Netscape's version of a form filler. Form fillers are a convenient way to store password and other personal information specific to a Web site, making return visits as easy as the click of a button.

Below the top row are five buttons and a pull-down menu to toggle to different toolbars. Some are preset upon loading Netscape, but most toolbars are empty, allowing you to create one for your music interests and another for news, for example. We like the live features on the default toolbar, which includes current weather conditions and live international newsfeeds from Netscape.

Along the left side is the sidebar. Here you can access your AOL AIM Buddy List to initiate IM chats, perform a Web search, choose a favourite bookmark, or get driving instructions from AOL-owned MapQuest.

In a nutshell, Netscape 8 is one of the most secure browsers available. Security features include a pop-up blocker, control of JavaScript and ActiveX on individual sites, and the ability to display site certificate information (effective in blocking phishing attacks). When used with AOL 9.0 Security Edition, Netscape 8 is virtually bulletproof, offering far safer surfing than the vulnerability-ridden Internet Explorer.

Netscape 8 is based on Mozilla.org's successful and mostly secure Firefox browser, but Netscape's inclusion of the Internet Explorer engine code as well makes it highly versatile and capable of rendering pages filled with code optimised for Internet Explorer. Netscape switches between Firefox and Internet Explorer automatically, eliminating the hassle of having to figure out which engine is best for which Web site. Whenever Netscape does use Internet Explorer, it uses an internal white list of sites certified by TrustE as safe.

There's also an internal blacklist of sites known to be used for dispensing spyware or viruses or for being involved in phishing scams; those sites are blocked by default. If you feel that the browser is in error, you can still visit the site, but Netscape disables cookie and JavaScript functionality so that your desktop remains safe from malicious code.

Sites not white- or black-listed will render with the default Firefox engine. Should you want to change any of the default decisions made by Netscape, simply right-click the green shield on the browser's tabbed header for the site in question. This opens the site's control panel, allowing you to override the browser engine used and micromanage the use of pop-ups, cookies, Java, JavaScript, and ActiveX for a given Web site. We like this much better than the silly security zones created by Microsoft for use in Internet Explorer; the functionality in Netscape is top level, so you don't have to dig through layers of menus just to turn off JavaScript.

Unfortunately, Netscape does not include an RSS feed reader. Rather, RSS feeds must be added manually to a toolbar of your choice. We would have preferred to have the RSS reader as part of the left-hand sidebar, as found in Apple Safari RSS or Opera.

Also, having access to multiple toolbars (up to 10) seems like a cool idea, but in practice, the access proves difficult to manage. Most people will have use for only 1 or 2 toolbars. The rest are overkill for all but the most advanced Netscape users.

AOL, which owns Netscape, provides a variety of free and paid technical-support options. There are in-program help files, as well as an online FAQ and user forums. We were pleased to find the option to contact someone for more assistance. However, we were surprised to be led to a site called DecisionOne which, for a fee, provides e-mail and telephone support. Gone are the days when Netscape had its own dedicated support team in-house.

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