posted on Dec, 18 2006 @ 04:40 PM
Netscape is based on the Mozilla Foundation's work--specifically Gecko--which is what powers both Seamonkey and Firefox. Netscape Communicator is
essentially a re-skinned version of Seamonkey, and Netscape Navigator is essentially a re-skinned version of Firefox. Netscape has done little to add
value to those products. If anything, they've subtracted value from them. So why use cheap knock-offs that don't work as well as the original?
I will suggest Firefox 2.0 like others. My mother, who isn't very computer-savvy, is actually using tabs on it! I never even taught her! It's not
as though it's her first time using Firefox either. With previous versions, she never even bothered with tabs, but when I surreptitiously upgraded
her browser, she just started using them on her own.
Also, keep an eye out for a Windows browser based on
WebKit. I'm using Konqueror under Linux, the engine (KHTML) from
which WebKit is derived, and it's very, very nice. Apple decided to use KHTML for Safari (the browser of choice for Mac OS X), and called their
version WebKit. It's a lot faster than Firefox/Gecko, and far more compatible than either IE or Opera. Hopefully that Windows port will be out
sooner rather than later.
PS For anyone who wants to nitpick, yes, it was Netscape who released their source code to the Mozilla Foundation, and the Mozilla Foundation was
supposed to create a browser from that source code, but they cringed upon first glance. They threw out the code, and started from scratch.