# Firefox vs. Netscape vs. Opera
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-vs-netscape-vs-opera/271235
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [October 26, 2004, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-vs-netscape-vs-opera/271235 "2004-10-26T15:02:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2004, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-vs-netscape-vs-opera/271235/1 "2004-10-26T15:02:39Z")
While reading [thread=282069]this thread[/thread], I noticed that all of the Firefox advocates are comparing it to IE. I haven’t used Firefox, and I dislike IE for various reasons. I’ve just been crunching along with my good 'ol brand-name Netscape browser, updating it every so often (I’m using 7.1 at the moment).
Why is it that nobody even mentions Netscape any more? How does Firefox compare to Netscape? Aren’t they based on the same open-source engine now? Is there a reason to switch?
I tried Opera a few years ago, but it was too buggy to use. My main reason for being attracted to it was the “Zoom” feature, which I’ve never seen in another browser. It’s great for late-night, bleary-eyed computer work on a high-resolution monitor. I know IE and Netscape allow you to adjust text size, but it doesn’t zoom pictures, margins, and such, and it breaks the layout of a lot of pages. Unfortunately, many zoomed pages in Opera didn’t show up at all, or were so horribly broken they were unusable. Has this been fixed? Is there any other advantage to Opera over Netscape/Mozilla/Firefox?
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### Author:  [@leenmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leenmi)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-vs-netscape-vs-opera/271235/2 "2004-10-26T19:56:26Z")
Opera has gotten much better. Zoom does photos, too, and the pages are useable.
Firefox can zoom text, but the image size remains the same.
Netscape is just running on inertia. They open-sourced the good parts and Mozilla was born. Mozilla, of course, begat Firefox. No one mentions Netscape because all of the innovation and advances are coming from the open-sourced fork.
Opera vs Mozilla/Firefox comes down to personal preference. They are all fine browsers.
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### Author:  [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2004, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-vs-netscape-vs-opera/271235/3 "2004-10-27T04:51:06Z")
There’s an extension on Firefox for zooming in on pictures. Can’t remember what it’s called but I downloaded it about a week ago.
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### Author:  [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2004, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-vs-netscape-vs-opera/271235/4 "2004-10-28T22:45:27Z")
Generally, I’m happy with Netscape 7.1, but I’m having some specific problems with it, and I’d like to upgrade. I’m used to the UI and I’m comfortable with it. It sounds like Firefox is my best bet, then, right?
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### Author:  [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2004, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-vs-netscape-vs-opera/271235/5 "2004-10-28T23:43:32Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#):
>
> Generally, I’m happy with Netscape 7.1, but I’m having some specific problems with it, and I’d like to upgrade. I’m used to the UI and I’m comfortable with it. It sounds like Firefox is my best bet, then, right?
Should be. There’s very little difference between the interfaces.
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### Author:  [@leenmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leenmi)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-vs-netscape-vs-opera/271235/6 "2004-10-28T23:47:15Z")
Mozilla also has extensions. If you are comfortable with Netscape 7.1 but still want to switch browsers, Mozilla 1.7 will be very familiar to you.
Mozilla 1.7 also does extensions and themes (although not as many extensions as Firefox) and themes. Firefox is just the browser (but it seems to be on a different development track, now). Mozilla is a suite of tools. It includes browser, mail client, calendar and a couple other things. Like Netscape 7.1, except for the calendar part.
I’m not trying to push you any direction. Like I said, they are all fine browsers.
Mozilla is a suite of tools, like Netscape.
Firefox is the Mozilla browser.
Thunderbird is the Mozilla email.
Some other bird is the Mozilla calendar.
Opera is heaven.
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### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2004, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-vs-netscape-vs-opera/271235/7 "2004-10-28T23:52:13Z")
If you want a seamless move from Netscape, go to Mozilla rather than Firefox. The latter has a bare interface which seems designed to replicate IE as much as possible - the lack of plugins for Mozilla is because so much more is already present. Admittedly, Mozilla can be sluggish compared to Firefox, but IMO it’s more stable (and both are less sluggish than a dozen windows of IE open at once!)
(And no, ‘Firefox is the Mozilla browser’ is wrong. Download Mozilla and run the browser only, and you have a very different experience to Firefox.)
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### Author:  [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2004, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-vs-netscape-vs-opera/271235/8 "2004-10-29T08:31:06Z")
-
-
- I have not yet tried Firefox, but I’ll tell you one thing that IE does right, and so far– **no** other PC browser can get correct: if you have a webpage with a Flash object in it, and you _keep the web page file name the same_ and update the Flash object, only IE will display the new Flash object. Mozilla, Netscape and Opera will not–they will keep on showing the old object. It doesn’t matter if you import the new Flash object as the same filename as the previous version (overwriting the previous version) or if you _re-name the newer version to a different name, and change the object call in the html page to the newer Flash object filename_. ONLY Internet Explorer will show the updated Flash object. The only way to get the other browsers to view the newer Flash object is to re-name the web page itself.
…
**I have seen this problem for at least the last 2-3 years.** And I updated WinXP and IE about five days ago, uninstalled Moz, Netsc and Opera, ran Eraser on their old installation folders to make sure they were totally gone, downloaded newest versions of all and re-installed… -and they still don’t work right. I first saw this problem when I was running Win98, and I now have XP and they still do it wrong. And right next to my WinXP PC is another PC running Fedora, with Mozilla on it–and that version of Mozilla displays _the exact same problem_. If the HTML code in the calling web page is visibly altered, all the suspect browsers will display the new HTML code correctly just by pressing the reload button–but the Flash object remains the old version. It does not matter if the webpage is on the internet or the local computer.
~
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### Author:  [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2004, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-vs-netscape-vs-opera/271235/9 "2004-10-29T11:41:50Z")
> [@leenmi](#):
>
> Some other bird is the Mozilla calendar.
Sunbird, and I prefer rainlender over it anyday.
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### Author:  [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2004, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-vs-netscape-vs-opera/271235/10 "2004-10-29T19:06:20Z")
> [@Go You Big Red Fire Engine](#):
>
> Sunbird, and I prefer rainlender over it anyday.
I am always on the lookout for a “better” desktop calendar: I used Active Desktop Calendar for a looong time, and lately I’ve been using the calendar that comes with ATnotes. But now, barely 5 minutes after installing it, [Rainlendar](http://www.ipi.fi/~rainy/index.php?pn=projects&project=rainlendar) is my new favorite app (I downloaded and looked at Sunbird, too). 🙂
Thank you!
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### Author:  [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2004, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-vs-netscape-vs-opera/271235/11 "2004-10-29T20:26:45Z")
> [@Misnomer](#):
>
> I am always on the lookout for a “better” desktop calendar: I used Active Desktop Calendar for a looong time, and lately I’ve been using the calendar that comes with ATnotes. But now, barely 5 minutes after installing it, [Rainlendar](http://www.ipi.fi/~rainy/index.php?pn=projects&project=rainlendar) is my new favorite app (I downloaded and looked at Sunbird, too). 🙂
When I checked out rainlender, there wasn’t a whole lot of information there, but I saw two things that really turned me off:
[ul]
[li]The front page of that site says it’s a plugin for Internet Explorer that shows calendar entries from Outlook. I don’t want to use IE and Outlook.[/li][li]The description says it just shows the current month. I want to show the current week and the next three or four, so at the end of the month I can see what’s coming instead of what’s already past.[/li][/ul]
If I misunderstood, please tell me.
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### Author:  [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2004, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-vs-netscape-vs-opera/271235/12 "2004-10-29T21:06:37Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#):
>
> The front page of that site says it’s a plugin for Internet Explorer that shows calendar entries from Outlook. I don’t want to use IE and Outlook.
I don’t know where you see anything about it being a plugin for IE…the only plugin reference I see is for something called Litestep. Anyway, Rainlendar has nothing to do with your browser: I use Firefox, myself.
Regarding Outlook, that is just an option. You can have it show your Outlook entries, or not.
> [@](#):
>
> _The description says it just shows the current month. I want to show the current week and the next three or four, so at the end of the month I can see what’s coming instead of what’s already past._
Again, I’m not sure where you see that description. Are you going by the screenshot on that page?
I don’t think you can see X number of weeks, but you can see X number of months – past, future, or both. I don’t think you can opt to not show the current month, though. I have it set up to display the current month and the coming month.
This app is highly customizeable, **InvisibleWombat**. There are 75 skins available, and each one is customizeable: for example, I don’t like seeing the week numbers or the year, so I disabled those options. The appearance/layout is customizeable, and you can also decided whether an icon for today’s date appears in your system tray. I’m sure there’s other stuff you can do to it that I either haven’t described or haven’t discovered yet…I’ve only had it for two hours, and have spent maybe 1/2 hour messing with it. 🙂
In short: it’s free, it’s small, and I recommend checking it out!
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### Author:  [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-vs-netscape-vs-opera/271235/13 "2004-10-29T21:10:48Z")
> [@Me](#):
>
> Again, I’m not sure where you see that description. Are you going by the screenshot on that page?
Ok, _now_ I see it (of course, after I posted a long-ass message :smack: ). That is a little misleading, but “out of the box” it does only display the current month. You have to read the [manual](http://www.ipi.fi/~rainy/Rainlendar/Manual.html) to learn how to show other months.
Still not sure where you get the IE plugin thing, though…
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### Author:  [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2004, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-vs-netscape-vs-opera/271235/14 "2004-10-30T13:17:23Z")
I saw it after it was on [another dope thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=270578). So simple yet so great. Very customisable, and it tells me when do to stuff. I can show it on top, on the bottom, hide on mouseover. And when you set dates for exams or travelling and stuff you get little pictures of books and planes. I personally prefer the shadow skin. I can still see what’s underneath, since I have it on top of everything, this is very handy. Hide on mouse-over is handy too.
Once you go firefox you never go back. One problem I have though, is when i try to ubb code by clicking the buttons above, especially URL UBB ☹ Doesn’t work too well. Does anyone else have this problem?
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### Author:  [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2004, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-vs-netscape-vs-opera/271235/15 "2004-10-30T17:05:33Z")
> [@Go You Big Red Fire Engine](#):
>
> I saw it after it was on [another dope thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=270578).
I was in that thread, too…I don’t know how I missed Kal’s post! :smack:
> [@](#):
>
> _And when you set dates for exams or travelling and stuff you get little pictures of books and planes._
I’m in the process of reading the skinning.txt file to learn how to modify the event profiles. I want to edit their names/make some new ones, but I might not be able to create new icons. Given the chance, I will customize the hell out of things! 😃
> [@](#):
>
> _I personally prefer the shadow skin._
Me, too: I installed a handful of other skins, and some of them are kinda cool-looking, but for now my favorite is Shadow3. 🙂
> [@](#):
>
> One problem I have though, is when i try to ubb code by clicking the buttons above, especially URL UBB ☹ Doesn’t work too well. Does anyone else have this problem?
It works ok for me… :shrug:
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### Author:  [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2004, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-vs-netscape-vs-opera/271235/16 "2004-10-30T17:15:33Z")
> [@Misnomer](#):
>
> I don’t know where you see anything about it being a plugin for IE…
The first major heading of [the manual](http://www.ipi.fi/~rainy/Rainlendar/Manual.html), says “Installing for Explorer” and the second heading is “Installing for Litestep.” I misread that as Rainlender being a plug in for one of two apps: Explorer (which I took to mean Internet Explorer) or Litestep (which I’ve never heard of). I should have looked for more detail.
> [@Misnomer](#):
>
> Anyway, Rainlendar has nothing to do with your browser: I use Firefox, myself.
Good news, as that’s probably what I’m switching to.
> [@Misnomer](#):
>
> I’m not sure where you see that description. Are you going by the screenshot on that page?
I went to the first sentence of [the manual](http://www.ipi.fi/~rainy/Rainlendar/Manual.html), which says, “Rainlendar is a very customizable calendar that resides on your desktop and shows the days of the current month.” I’m glad to hear that’s an oversimplification.
> [@Misnomer](#):
>
> In short: it’s free, it’s small, and I recommend checking it out!
I appreciate the help, **Misnomer** , and I’ll follow your recommendation.