[WEB4LIB] Re: Netscape standalone

[Julie Bauer]

We were advised by our consortium not to use Netscape
6 on our public computers because it is not compatible
with Fortres.  If Andrew or anyone knows differently,
oh please do share with the rest of us, for I would
love to nuke 4.08.

--- "Andrew I. Mutch" <amutch at waterford.lib.mi.us>
wrote:
> Jacque, 
> 
> The most "current" version of Netscape standalone is
> 4.08. By current, we
> are talking circa 1998. We had Netscape 4.08 on our
> public Internet
> computers before we upgraded to Windows2000. While I
> loved the ease with
> which I could "lock" it down, its performance was
> becoming increasingly
> erratic.  There's several areas where 4.08 just
> doesn't cut it:
> 
> 1) Standards-support: Its support for CSS1 is a
> crap-shoot at best. It
> doesn't support CSS2 or any of the other more
> recently adopted standards.
> Just visit some of the CSS2-focused web sites of
> more recent vintage to
> see how it renders these sites. If the designers did
> a good job, it should
> degrade decently. If they didn't, it will make a
> mangle of it. Either
> way, it probably won't display the way that the
> designers intended.
> 
> 2) Java: A regular occurance was the browser
> crashing on most sites that
> used Java applets. I never traced down the root
> cause of this but the
> patrons and staff weren't happy when it did.
> 
> 3) Page rendering: Once you've run 4.08 against IE 6
> or one of the
> Mozilla-based browsers, I think you'll find that its
> page rendering is
> painfully slow. 
> 
> When we upgraded, I installed Public Web Browser on
> these computers. It's
> very easy to configure and is very secure. At some
> point, I'll be adding a
> Mozilla-based browser to these computers as well. It
> most probably will be
> K-Meleon, once we get a few more issues sorted out.
> I already use K-Meleon
> on our OPACs and it has been the "perfect" browser
> for that use. I might
> also look at Mozilla or Netscape 7 too. 
> 
> I've been asked to review a set of instructions on
> how to lock down
> Netscape/Mozilla as tight as PWB or K-Meleon. Once I
> get a chance to test
> those out, I've been given the OK to post those up
> as part of my help
> pages. So, hopefully, I can get those up soon. Those
> might provide a good
> alternative for those who want to stick to Netscape.
> 
> Andrew Mutch
> Library Systems Technician
> Waterford Township Public Library
> Waterford, MI
> 
> 
> 
> On Thu, 20 Jun 2002, Jacque King wrote:
> 
> > Are any of you still using Netscape's standalone
> version (I think it is
> > version 4.05)?  If so, are there any reasons you
> wish you weren't?
> > 
> > I'd like to use it on our new W2K public stations
> (since it does not have
> > AOL, etc., integrated). We've been using Netscape
> 4.7x, but it is tedious
> > to lock down so I'm hoping I can go back to the
> standalone version without
> > any problems.  If you are currently using the
> standalone version, I
> > would appreciate hearing from you (e.g. do you
> have any printing
> > issues? any java issues? site freezes? etc.)
> > 
> > Many thanks!!
> > 
> > Jacque King
> > Library Technical Support Specialist
> > Fort Collins Public Library
> > 201 Peterson Street
> > Fort Collins, CO  80524
> > (970) 221-6716
> > king at julip.fcgov.com
> > 
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
> 


=====
Julie Bauer
Information Services Librarian
Weston Public Library
Weston, Massachusetts

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