Netscape 8.0 (beta)

Lindsey Turrentine CNET

Published: 04 Mar 2005

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Netscape has released a beta version of a much-anticipated browser that takes advantage of the recent and wildly successful Mozilla Firefox 1.0 release. It's no surprise that the so-called Netscape prototype runs the Gecko engine that also powers the Firefox browser (Netscape owner AOL Time Warner spun off the Mozilla team as a non-profit last year). But there's a surprise in this early version: the future Netscape also renders pages in Internet Explorer. This early version doesn't install IE; instead, it relies on the version already installed on your PC.

Also new is built-in anti-spyware. Sites listed on Netscape's spyware and phishing blacklist (supplied by third-party anti-spam and anti-phishing vendors) will be denied ActiveX and cookie access on your desktop.

Although Mozilla has done stunningly well -- some attribute IE's recent popularity decline to Firefox -- it can't do everything. Anyone using Firefox every day will notice that certain Web sites don't render quite right in it, and some secure sites, such as banks, still require IE for login. The Netscape beta allows you to browse most of the time with Gecko, which is arguably more secure software, and then switch to IE rendering if you need it. The switch is easy in the nascent Netscape interface, which offers Firefox-style tabbed browsing. Just type in a URL, then click an icon on the tab that reloads the page in IE. You won't see any change in the browser shell or interface -- just the Web site re-rendered on the same tab.

The early Netscape version also packs in many more bells and whistles than spartan Firefox. Beyond your basics, such as an address bar and navigation buttons, Netscape throws in two newsfeed tickers and the ability to add RSS feeds in one click, as well as prominent icons for a pop-up blocker and an automated form-filler. In our very informal use of this prototype, pages load refreshingly quickly.

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