I’ve been using Netscape for about 6 years now, starting back around version 2.0. Netscape has always been prone to crashing, much to my dismay. I used Internet Explorer a little bit this summer, but I don’t like it. It (IE) doesn’t seem any less likely to crash, and it’s just not what I’m used to.
I understand that certain things work better with either browser – IE does the UBB better, I believe Lynn said recently, and I seem to recall that Netscape handles Java better (but I could easily be wrong).
So, my questions are:
Which do you use? Why? (Or do you use another browser?)
Oh, and why does my browser like to crash? (In Netscape 4.6, there’s this half-crash where I can no longer scroll with the arrow keys or left-click on links, but I can scroll with the bar and right-click links to open them in a new window… Very strange!)
(I did a search for Netscape, IE, and “Internet Explorer”, but couldn’t find anything…
I use IE because in doing web design, I’ve realized that, generally speaking, IE is probably going to be truer to the designer’s intentions of how a page should look. Things like style sheets (and the fonts they control), form fields, and to a lesser extent table layout is handled better in IE than in NS. That being said, NS is better for testing web pages because it’ll show you your errors in all its anti-glory.
And, yeah, that “no, you can’t left-click links” thing pisses me off too…
I use Netscape mainly because it was the first browser I had, so I stick with it, and also because by doing so I can have the guilty pleasure of telling people that my PC at home is a “Microsoft-free zone”, meaning that it is not running any Microsoft software.
StevenG
My PC was crashing last week too.
Not the partial like you are referring to though.
Tshirts suggested that I turn the graphics acceleration down and that “Fixed” the problem.
What kind of PC do you have?
Someone mentioned that Gateway is infamous for that.
Netscape 'cos I’m used to it. I keep IE loaded for downloading Windows patches from MS (a fairly common pursuit with Office’97). I know how to do everything I want in Netscape (clear cache, bookmarks, signature, turn off ‘Auto launch’ for programs) and don’t feel like re-learning that in IE. The last few rounds of bad viruses, worms, what-have-you, seemed to be related to IE and Outlook. When someone mails me an -.exe or -.doc I don’t want my email program to automatically open it then send to everyone in my address book.
I used to use IE, but it weirded on me yesterday, telling me that “cannot find server” message with any website I tried to contact. But monitoring my connection, I noticed it didn’t even TRY to contact said websites. Everything else connection based worked perfectly (ICQ, multiplayer games, etc.). So I tried to repair IE, I tried to reinstall it, with no avail, always giving me that same damn message. I said screw the damn thing and asked someone on ICQ to send me the install patch for Netscape. I am hereby running on Netscape Navigator 6.0
About the OP, I used to like IE better, just because of the way it was built, but now it seems Netscape will do pretty ok.
So, want to know why I have so many posts? Alright, here is one little secret. When I post a message & hit submit & wait for the page to change first, then I hit that GO button & it comes down & right there is a list of what pages I have been to & I can see the General Forum link that has all of the message topics on it & I click that & I get sent back to that page.
I’m sort of like Arnold, in that I really don’t want a 100% Microsoft PC. It’s enough that I use Windoze. I also believe that IE will always be less trouble on a Windoze system, because it’s their own product.
Windoze does something to screw with Netscape - see “Anti-trust Case” for more info. I think it has something to do with memory allocation, and the way certain java apps are handled. Just a WAG.
I used to leave my PC running all the time. I still do, but I close and re-start Netscape one or two times daily. I also try to remember to reboot daily. It has greatly cut down on my lockups with Netscape, and other SW problems.
Oh, and getting the 4.73 update helped some too. I found 4.6 to suck big time.
Netscape. It was the first thing that I used, and the couple of times I tried IE, I just didn’t like it. Of course, I know where most things are and how most things work on Netscape, and I had a hard time with IE due to lack of familiarity.
For anyone with Netscape 6, did you have any problems with it? I can’t get it to go anywhere.
For me it has little to do with the technical side of things (frankly, I don’t have a clue) and more to do with aesthetics: I just like the look of Netscape. Throw in a little anti-Microsoft cynicism and bingo, no IE for me.
Thank you, all, for your comments. This has been interesting … I’ve just upgraded Netscape to 4.61 and we’ll see how it goes. I’m not thrilled yet, but we’ll see.
Purd, “opera” sounds familiar as a browser, but what is it? Can you tell me more?
I use IE, not because I think it’s a much better browser than Netscape, but rather because it’s far more stable. I haven’t played around enough with Netscape 6 to know if it’s as stable as IE, but I got so sick and tired of 4.75 crashing that I said “screw it – Bill Gates has the better browser.”
I also use Lynx when I’m designing Web pages, to ensure pages are compatible with older browsers. Hey, I’m old school – I code HTML manually, and believe that users should use the browser of their choosing.
I should play around with Opera more, but the interface seems a bit amateurish for me, resembling an old Windows 3.1 program. Personally, I’d like to see a Windows version of OmniWeb – the browser for NeXTstep was phenomenal, and the OS X version esceapes description.
Stephen, you can find out more about the Opera browser at http://www.opera.com . The browser’s biggest claims to fame is that it’s quite small compared to IE and Netscape, and it’s also supposed to be quite a bit faster.
I installed the new Opera 5.01 browser a week ago, and I’ve been very impressed. (The new version is now free, although it runs banner ads.)
I have a 133 mhz PC running Windows 95, and it’s amazing how fast Opera runs. However, it does have some problems rendering a few pages properly.
About a month ago, I tested Netscape 6, but I’ve stopped using it. It is extremely sluggish (about twice as slow as Netscape 4, which was no speed demon), has some rendering problems, and a bunch of smaller annoyances. I also can’t print out of it for some reason. Overall it struck me as more of a late beta product than something that is really ready to be distributed.
