Netscape Sucks

[SonOfSmawg]

My G4 came with IE and Netscape installed. IE has always run beautifully, with never a problem. Netscape has consistently been a major pain in the ass. I've tried many different versions, and none of them are worth a $*^t. It seems the newer the version, the worse it is. I "lovingly" refer to N6 as Netscape666.
The only reason that I have Netscape on my puter is for "Composer". It's an easy-to-use interface for creating layouts for webpages, flyers, and school reports. I am currently using Netscape Communicator 4.76, as it is the lesser of all of the Netscape evils. However, at this point, I just want to get Netscape out of my puter. I've let Netscape frustrate me for almost 2 years now, and I'm fed-up with it and refuse to let it waste any more of my time and effort.
So...can anyone recommend a good, basic, freebie application to replace Netscape Composer? I'd be willing to try several to find one that best suits me. I'm no frickin puter genius, so buying some fancy-shmancy, complicated super-program would be a waste of money. I just need something that's user-friendly and will let me do most of the basic functions. All suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
BTW...I also have iCab and Opera, and they are both great browsers for search-surfing. They both just released new versions that are great improvements over their predecessors. I'm especially fond of iCab. If you're going to be speeding through dozens of websites looking for information, these browsers rock. They are very light, and allow you to see a lot more sites in a lot less time than Netscape or IE.

 

[audiokid]

I'm with you on that SOS. I've been using netscape for 4 years and ver 6 is a total piece of ****. Takes waaaaaaaaay more HD space and that alone is two thumbs down for me. 6.2 is alot better than 6.1 but a ways too go.

Sticking with 4.7 until they improve it.

 

[Doublehelix]

I have always been a Netscape fan, and avoided IE like the plague, until about 2 years ago...

Now I wonder how (and why???) I ever used Netscape. I guess I have been assimilated by Microsoft...it was bound to happen to sooner or later...resistance is futile!

DH

 

[Ang1970]

Let's give credit where it's due. Without the one-upping by Netscape, IE would have stagnated and still be the pos it was 4 years ago. The problem with Netscape now... they can't keep up with the monopoly. It's like, how do you run faster than the racetrack itself? You'll always be one step behind, no matter how well intentioned you are. So let's at least give David his props for taking on Goliath, and hope they smooth out the kinks enuf to keep competing.

Also, everybody should take a good look at [="http://www.opera.com"]Opera[/]. It's a streamlined browser that comes either free (adware) or for a low price (non-adware), can handle most simple java and html stuff, and makes it easy to turn off images for fast loading. I use it to keep up with RO most of the time.

 

[SonOfSmawg]

I was an "analog man" til 2 years ago, when I bought my first puter...this G4, so I have no idea what IE or Netscape were like before that. All I know is that Netscape has caused me nothing but headaches, and I'm washing my hands of it.
I'd still like to know if anyone knows of an app similar to Netscape Composer that I can get. As soon as I have a replacement for Composer, everything "Netscape" in my puter is HISTORY. Please help me destroy the evil menace!!!
Again, anyone who reads this...download iCab and give it a whirl. Try Opera, too. They're sorta similar...light and fast...like putting a rocket on your "surf"board...hehehe...

 

[captain_analogue]

I guess I'm just easy to please (in everything but audio quality.) I use Netscape 4.7, and it performs so much better than that bloated thing from Gates,Inc. I would NOT recommend any version past 4.7, and I don't play games, nor do I use crap like Instant Messager. I go directly to my mailbox (without the damn news, weather, or "features.") And, I go directly to INFORMATION. You want foreign radio: GET A SHORTWAVE. You want games: BUY NINTENDO. For simple navigating, Netscape (properly configured) can't be beat.

 

[Opus2000]

Well...I'll finally jump in here on this topic...I was holding back since I myself hate netscrape with a passion!! With the mail system you cant save settings or address books as well as Outlook..you cant import or export files like Outlook..it just plain sucks..and IE doesnt have to have that silly Java $*^t loading when you want to simply browse the internet..IE works far better than Netscrape does..loads faster and nowadays the graphics elements are much of a concern due to IE's upgrades...back when Netscrape 4.7 came out that was when IE was terrible for graphics and so forth..but now it's a hell of a lot better!! Especially with Flash and Shockwave plugins...
My roomate is finally given up on Netscrape since his email settings keep getting erased somehow..now since I manage all of our computers at hme I know it aint our system nor user error..it's just Netscrape scraping along trying to survive this unholy monopolizing war!!!
Opus

 

[chmed]

I was using 4.7 for quite awhile. It was working well and I wanted to avoid microsoft for as long as I could. Then I got into this mess of having a bunch of different email addresses and i tried outlook but it would make netscape crash so i tried IE but found I missed a few things from netscape. Outlook also wouldn't import my email and addresses correctly so I decided to try netscape 6.1. It had problems but would handle multiple email addresses so I upgraded to 6.2 and it is slightly better but still not great. I don't like outlook (how do you insert a link?) and IE has something wrong with it that I can't remember now. I think I'm going to try green mail. And maybe icab. Not sure yet.

 

[audiokid]

Hi, I'm on Netscape 6.2 right now and it's working okay. I'm hoping 6.3 speeds up a bit. As far as IE, crap in my eyes. If you get rid of IE altogether Netscape straightens out. MS put some weird bug in the software to screw up netscape I'm sure.

Hoping for a new future with Netscape. The last 4 years were great.

Now back to 4.7

 

[SonOfSmawg]

You guys are all missing the boat with your email. You wanna try something that'll knock your socks off? Check this out...
Go to the Apple site and get iTools. Sign up for their email. Go to the Eudora website and download their newest version. Put them together and you have "the bomb".
Feel free to email me a "thank you" at synergetek@mac.com so that I can open Eudora and marvel at it.

 

[SonOfSmawg]

Oh, and another thing...
I am now Netscape-free. I've been "clean" for over a week now....hehehe! Best thing I ever did for my Mac and my sanity.
There are a lot of posts on this thread, but still nobody has helped with my original dilemma. I'm looking for a freebie replacement for Netscape Composer. Could someone please give me some recommendations?
Also, I'm looking for a good program to design, edit, change the size, and change the format of icons. I've tried a few demos, but they've either been too basic or too hard to use. Any suggestions?
And last but not least ... iCab ROCKS!

 

[Todd Farone]

I would have to say that the Opera browser Ver. 5 is definitely worth checking out. It's very fast!

 

[br0d]

I've been clinging to Netscape because I feel some sense of loyalty to the NCSA Mosaic group, but so many sites crash it these days that I've begun using IE. Unless the DOJ starts sniffing around on that one, I'm going to have to go to IE for a while, the errors are too frequent.

 

[SonOfSmawg]

Just thought I'd let you all know that a new update to iCab was just recently released with a lot of improvements for OSX. If you still haven't tried the iCab browser, you really owe it to yourself to check it out.
Enjoy! Cyber-Surf's Up!!!

 

[mcgriffy]

But what ya gonna use for e-mail? Ever since about version three of IE and Netscape or certainly since 4, IE has looked much better and mostly worked better AS A BROWSER. But I use any of the many MS mail clients only when forced. They are all ugly and suceptible to viruses. I have long use Netscape for e-mail even though it had its share of bugs. I recently tried Eudora for a while remembering that it was once, long ago, a really good e-mail client. It's not bad now but I still like Netscape's e-mail better. I used 4.7 for a long time and now use 6.2. Because I always use their mail, I often end up in their browser jsut because I click on a link in a message. Version 6 is at least no longer ugly in its rendering, but IE is still better. I hate it but it's true.

But mostly, admit it, it doesn't really matter that much. In fact, I feel like such a geek just writing this post that I will stop now ...

Later,
DMcG

 

[SonOfSmawg]

IMHO, Netscape email is just another mediochre way of doing things, just like their slow, buggy browser, and it's an ugly piece of eye-poop (that ugly yellow). Their email is less-than feature rich.
As I previously posted, my favorite is Eudora/Mac. I have it in my Apple menu, so that I can easily check it anytime without interupting other things I'm doing or bringing up another browser window.
As far as all-in-one emails, Yahoo has my vote. It's look is very basic ... white background ... but that's just a simplistic disguise. I first learned about the power of the Yahoo email from a chart which I ran-accross while "surfing" one day, which compared all of the major emails' functionalities. To make a long story short, Yahoo had the most boxes checked. The layout is very simple and easy to use, with all of the features easily accessible. Dependability is top notch here, where I've never had a problem attaching, replying, forwarding, sending, receiving, storing, or LOGGING ON. I especially like the fact that it gives you plenty of storage space with the freebie version (6Mb), and the free Yahoo briefcase gives you 30Mb of online storage. Out of all of the all-in-one emails that I've tried (LOTS), Yahoo is at the top of my chart.
There is only one thing that I don't like about Yahoo ... the name ... LOL ... "But would not a rose by any other name still be a rose?"

 

[Solfatio]

SOS:

Have you tried BBEdit? It's more like a word processor than Composer, but you can still do a ton with it. Very good for editing HTML, but the thing with BBEdit is it's textual and not graphical.

Stone Studio/Stone Create for OS X are pretty cool...but cost money.

I hate to admit it, but NetScape Composer is really pretty damn good. Even if it writes some messy (although not necessarily sloppy) code.

 

[Ang1970]

I'll second that vote for Eudora, and on both mac and pc. Great program, it lets me work with my emails the way I want to. Both IE and Netscape as a email browser are simply ludicrous.