Today I received my NetScape Version 8.0 Update Disk, and loaded it.
NetScape displayed my weblog in the same demented way as did IE.
I was outraged. NetScape has Let The Side Down!
Then I calmed down a little, and started checking out the webpage. I found a banner in my AirAmerica article which extended across the page. The old version of NetScape (7.2) overlayed the sidebar, which was sloppy but I didn't care.
The new version of NetScape (8.0) apparently allowed this to force the width of the text area to conform to the banner settings, and resulted in an 'ugly webpage'.
It's my fault. I was sloppy, the old NetScape version let me get away with it. Now the new version of NetScape will NOT let me get away with sloppy page design.
I suppose this is an improvement, and I'm sure that it will result in more careful construction on my part.
But I have to admit, I kinda miss the old NetScape. I only switched to the new version to ensure that the software vendor would continue to support it.
The good news here is that IE will now display the Cogito Ergo Geek website a neatly as does NetScape.
The bad news (if you're an IE afficianado) is that IE still loads slower, and MS still announces an average of one security breach every month.
I won't switch to IE as my primary browser ... ever! ... but you should be aware of some problems which I have encountered tonight after upgrading NetScape from version 7.2 to version 8.0.
The worst of them (I expect to find more) is that the upgrade process does NOT bring your password files to the new version. Therefore, if you plan to upgrade NetScape, be sure that you have ALL of your passwords (and user IDs) for EVERY website you commonly visit logged in a hardcopy file somewhere. I'm genetically paranoid, so I have all of my passwords logged on paper and I can build a new 'DataCard' (NetScape's new password file device) for each website as I visit it. It's a slow, laborious process and I can't imagine why NetScape wouldn't choose to transfer the password manager data to the new version ... but I can live with it.
Still, I can continue to use my new browser, and I'm sure I will become more comfortable with it as I go along. There ARE some very good features in the new NetScape browser version, but I'll let you discover them the same way I do.
This isn't easy for a guy who resists change as vehemently as I. Just ask anyone who suffered through my invective when USPSA issued a new competition Rule Book last year!
UPDATE: June 7, 2005
Life's too short to spend weeks trying to work around obvious new-release software bugs. Version 8.0 of NetScape has many more problems than I had originally perceived. One of them is that, when several windows are open, it activates windows I'm not currently trying to work in. Another is that it's difficult to access the Windows toolbar from NetScape 8.0.
Instead of reporting problems to NetScape (which doesn't have an obvious error-dialogue path) and waiting for them to release a patch, I restored my system to a previous date. This doesn't say much good about NetScape 8.0, but it speaks volumes for Windows XP.
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