Munch, Munch, bye-bye memory. (Netscape Navigator 6.0)

Name: cyberstoat

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Product:	Netscape Navigator 6.0
Date:	19.01.01 (35 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks good.

Disadvantages: Too many to list.

Netscape 6 has been long awaited by those of us used to using the 4.x version. I've used that for some time, successfully, but I had issues with it. Specifically, the way it crashed whenever I asked it to do anything useful.

So when Netscape 4.x died on me, I ran a whole disk diagnostic, swept out all the unusued files and gubbins I didn't need, and POUNCED on Netscape 6 via FTP. What a waste of time THAT was. I've tried regularly since then, but the ftp site just doesn't want to work properly. Grr. Not good.

So I had to go about things in a different way. Swiftly acquiring an easy base install of IE, I then jumped using THAT to Netscape's site and downloaded Netscape 6.

Now, this looked good. Netscape 4.x had required a large meg of download to install, and my space on this machine is a little limited, so I wasn't too happy about that. But Netscape 6 is a tiny download that then installs files direct via modem. Takes just as long, but it doesn't eat all your valuable harddrive space while doing so. An important factor if you've not got a lot of space left, like me. Bonus points.

Once that had been achieved, and the browser was installed, I opened it up and DROOLED.

I liked that skin. Oh, did I ever like that skin.

Then I started to USE the product. Mistake.

Netscape 6 has some pretty good feature in it over and above 4.x releases, but in general, they're peripheral or cosmetic changes that add very little to the actual workable end product. In fact, they hinder it. I suddenly found that my memory which was fine with a 4.7 or IE product was now almost totally grinding to a halt, and that was running NS6 on its own. I was unimpressed, but prepared to live with it as I only really use the browser for DooYoo, email, and some shopping. The rest of the time I use telnet. So I persevered.

Ack. Ick. Uck. This is the noise made by my computer as it desperately
tries to run Java. No way, I'm afraid. Despite having downloaded and installed the necessary Java that came with Netscape 6, half the time any Java site I came across refused to run. Netscape 6 died on me so many times that I really thought my PC wouldn't recover.

Now, I'm used to certain sites going slowly, but they've always loaded. Not in this case.

Netscape 6 is seriously bad news. It looks good, and operates pretty much the same user interface (although a lot of peripheral stuff has been tacked on, needlessly, in my opinion, but it is so memory hungry and with impossible to use Java, that I removed it within two days of installing. Nothing I could do would fix the bugs, and I wasn't even prepared to try downloading patchs or new plugins, as they could only slow me down all the more.

Advice? Netscape 4.7 might be older, but it WORKS better. Stick to that if you must use Netscape at all, but I'd look at the alternatives now. Other products on the market have advanced faster than Netscape.

Summary: