Preview of new AOL Netscape browser

Firefox running the IE engine

[RonPK]

Here's a Mozillazine article [mozillazine.org] on the new Netscape browser.

The browser, to be released in 2005, is based on Firefox and has an interesting option called 'Display like Internet Explorer'. If chosen, it starts using IE's rendering engine.

[Hester]

This has to be one of the ugliest and most complicated browser interfaces I have ever seen. Give me Firefox or Opera instead anyday. (Though the idea of having Firefox and IE together is a neat one.)

[Sanenet]

Cluttered!

And whose bright idea was it to change all the standard windows options around? No close, min, max buttons, file¦edit¦view etc moved to top right...

That's going to annoy people. And the green reminds me of those old green and white monitors you used to get in libraries!

[MatthewHSE]

The browser, to be released in 2005, is based on Firefox and has an interesting option called 'Display like Internet Explorer'. If chosen, it starts using IE's rendering engine.

What a horrible option! So now we designers get to deal with a browser that shows up in our stats as Netscape, but could still be mangling our pages IE-style. Just what we needed.

Fortunately, I highly doubt many people will know what that means, and it's not likely to be a very well-used feature (I hope). Of course, most people are likely to think it's some sort of skin or theme, but my concern in that case would be that, having turned it on, they won't turn it off again when they find it "does nothing."

[edited by: MatthewHSE at 8:06 pm (utc) on Dec. 1, 2004]

[encyclo]

Great "feature"! Just one click and you can transform your fancy new browser into the world's finest automatic spyware and virus downloader! Who is this product aimed at, exactly? Those who know the difference won't be using this thing anyway.

Also, I'm guessing that this strange, ugly creation isn't going to be made available cross-platform, then?

[MatthewHSE]

Okay, so it's not quite as bad as I thought:

With 'Display like Internet Explorer' enabled, Netscape uses IE to render pages,

Bad enough . . .

sends the user-agent of your installed version of IE to websites

So at least the stats won't be skewed like I initially thought.

The option is omnipresent in Netscape's context menus, always the first item in the content area.

Right on the context menu? Ack! And right at the top? Double ack! Why couldn't they have buried it so it was only accessible from the browser options, at the bottom, after clicking an "Advanced" button, then a "Settings" button, and finally a "Rendering Engine" checkbox, with a warning about compromising security and browsing experience, with one or possibly two scary-sounding confirmation alerts? ;)

On the other hand, it could make debugging for IE somewhat handier. Every cloud has a silver lining . . .

[Hester]

No close, min, max buttons

I see those in the top right corner.