Which Netscape 4

Netscape 4 for testing purposes.

[StepOne]

Hi,

I would like to install a number of browser versions on my computer for testing purposes. (Windows)

Question: Which version(s) of a Netscape 4 browser should I choose, or does it matter? Netscape's browser archive lists browser 4 versions from 4.03 to 4.8. I can't install them all, which should I choose to get a realistic impression of what Netscape 4.x can and cannot do and might expect still to be in use?

My expected audience are likely to be home users who might never think of upgrading.

[topr8]

from my logs last week:

Netscape browsers (as recorded) in order of use.

4.7
3.0
6.x
4.5
4.x
2.x

the bottom two are very low numbers and could concievably be only one or two people repeat visiting.

[tedster]

Look out for 3.0 and 2.0 user agents - they may be bots, not people.

There's also some chaos in version numbers between the stand-alone Netscape browser and the full Netscape Communicator. For instance, I believe that 4.08 is the browser itself that is used in Communicator 4.7

[tedster]

Whoops - I missed the main topic.

I would personally recommend 4.7 -- that's by far the most common for human users over the scores of websites I work with.

Here's a Netscape Version Guide [sillydog.org] from SillyDog that may help you making decisions.

[Sinner_G]

I would install 2 NS4 versions.

NS 4.7x because as tedster said it is the most widely used.

NS 4.07 because it is the most buggy one, which means if your site runs on that one, you don't have to worry about others.

[bill]

deja vu :) I had a very similar question [webmasterworld.com] not too long ago.

[martinibuster]

Look out for 3.0 and 2.0 user agents - they may be bots, not people.

Very true. I saw Inktomi/Slurp do this on a badly coded client site.

In my humble opinion, Netscape 4.7 is the one to test on. IMO, if it works there, you pretty much have your bases covered. For some reason, NN 4.7 picks up weirdness.

CAVEAT: Some of the weirdness may be CSS related. Blogs look like POOP in NN 4.7 because NN 4.7 isn't compliant with the latest CSS specs.

So it's important to know who your audience is. Older? Then pander to 4.7. Young and tech savvy? Then blow it off.

But you would be surprised at how many "young" people are still using IE 5.0.

I also test on NN 6.0.

If your web site also validates, then you are coming ahead even better.

Good question!

[g1smd]

Hmm, I don't see many blogs out there with either valid HTML or valid CSS. Most seem quite broken.

[Syren_Song]

I just reinstalled NN 4.02 and added NN7 in lieu of NN4.6. Most sites look positively ghastly in NN4.02. Worse than they did in NN4.6 actually, which is what was on my machine prior to a recent overhaul.

Some folks are totally ignoring anything earlier than NN6, though I don't think that's a good idea, myself. I'm thinking of adding either 4.6 or 4.7 to my machine as well, because there are some big differences in the way sites view on just from 4.0 to 4.6/7.

You may want to check out the browser comparison charts here [webreview.com] or and here [hotwired.lycos.com] to see the variations between the way different browsers handle various codes. That may help you to decide.

Happy choosing!

[g1smd]

I recently updated my Netscape 4.xx browser from 4.72 to 4.8 as it shows the same rendering errors whilst crashing less frequently. I also like Mozilla 1.1, but there are some wierd problems to be found within.