SillyDog701

[James]

I "thought" Mozilla was a single piece of software and now I discover it is a series of various versions... from Beonex to Phoenix to Mozilla. Could someone enlighten me as to:

1. How all of these versions tie together into a single picture?
2. What the purpose of all of these versions is?
3. The reliability of Phoenix as opposed to Mozilla 1.2?

I've read that Phoenix has five button (mouse) support which would suit me just fine. BUT... would it be as stable as Mozilla? Would it be as stable as Netscape 7?

Thanks.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.0.1) Gecko/20020823 Netscape/7.0 (nscd2)

[Hendikins]

Mozilla is Mozilla.

The other products, including Netscape, are branded versions of Mozilla (Netscape, Beonex), or based on the Mozilla codebase (Phoenix, others).

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.3a) Gecko/20021124

[Shark Daddy]

All of this info can be found at http://www.mozilla.org, so for more info, be sure to check it out.

All of these versions are based on the framework made at mozilla.org. Mozilla is defined as a 'set of technologies' developed in an open environment. This includes the Mozilla browser (SeaMonkey), the main focus of the organization, and other open efforts (e.g. BugZilla, the open bug system, and XUL, the best XML UI language to date). Beonex, Netscape, IBM, OEone, and many others have used the browser and other things develpoed at mozilla.org and added to them to make their own products, contributing to the source code or branding their own versions. Think of the Mozilla browser as the framework upon which all Gecko browsers are built. mozilla.org develops the main Mozilla browser, and now Phoenix (name to change soon), a more user-friendly version of Mozilla geared more toward less techie users and former IE users. Phoenix still needs a lot of work before it becomes really good, but for basic browsing, you'll find that if you ignore its instability, it's faster than Mozilla (one of the ideas behind Phoenix is that it's unbloated).

Hope it helps.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.3a) Gecko/20021206

[DJGM]

To summarize . . .

Mozilla: Ongoing open source development platform project to create a
cross platform internet applications suite made for testing purposes and
other development projects. Not generally designed for casual end users.

Netscape 6.x-7.x: Commercially packaged freeware browser suite built
from the Mozilla codebase, with proprietary add-ons made for end users.

Beonex: Freeware browser suite built from the Mozilla codebase, but
with no proprietary or commercial add-ons. Designed for end users.

Phoenix*: Stripped down and reworked version of the Navigator browser
component of Mozilla. Much smaller download than it's big brother, but
with more customisation options. Not generally designed for casual
end users, but is still in the early stages of development.

Galeon and Skipstone: Standalone browser projects built for Linux
systems that require some version of Mozilla to be pre-installed.

K-Meleon: Standalone browser for Windows, with a native UI, but
contains Mozilla's Gecko rendering engine for browsing webpages.

Chimera: Standalone browser for Mac OS X, with a native UI, but
contains Mozilla's Gecko rendering engine for browsing webpages.

*As was mentioned earlier in this thread, the Phoenix project is due to
be renamed soon, due to BIOS maker, Phoenix Technologies, accusing
the developers of the Phoenix browser of infringing their trademark.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.0.2) Gecko/20021120 Netscape/7.01 (CK-DJGM-i.net)

[Fulvio]

I "thought" Mozilla was a single piece of software and now I discover it is a series of various versions... from Beonex to Phoenix to Mozilla. Could someone enlighten me as to:

1. How all of these versions tie together into a single picture?
2. What the purpose of all of these versions is?
3. The reliability of Phoenix as opposed to Mozilla 1.2?

I've read that Phoenix has five button (mouse) support which would suit me just fine. BUT... would it be as stable as Mozilla? Would it be as stable as Netscape 7?

Thanks.

You have excellent answers from DJGM about 1 and 2. As for 3, I have seen instability reported for Phoenix, but I have yet to see any details.
I have not seen anything wrong with run of the mill browsing. I can tell you that Phoenix has no mail, and Moz1.2.1 does not show any mail with one account, even if I copy the Inbox from another Profile. But, honestly, I have been busy looking at so many different things that Phoenix has not received proper attention. As for the multibutton mouse, I have seen it reported, but so far, I cannot get autoscroll from it any better than from any Gecko-based browsers. I am using a GE optical mouse, and I just got its new driver. I will let you know if it works any differently than before.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; rv:1.2.1) Gecko/20021130

[Antony]

DJGM did a good summary, however I'd like to add a bit more.

Mozilla: Ongoing open source development platform project to create a
cross platform internet applications suite made for testing purposes and
other development projects. Not generally designed for casual end users.

Netscape 6.x-7.x: Commercially packaged freeware browser suite built
from the Mozilla codebase, with proprietary add-ons made for end users.

Mozilla: Open source development project, lead by Netscape (Communications Inc.). Has special license agreement with Netscape.

Netscape 6.x - 7.x: Not open source code, and is designed for end users.

Netscape Communications Inc. is part of America Online, and America Online is an AOL Time Warner company.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.0.1) Gecko/20020823 Netscape/7.0 (CK-SillyDog)

[Edward]

As for the multibutton mouse, I have seen it reported, but so far, I cannot get autoscroll from it any better than from any Gecko-based browsers. I am using a GE optical mouse, and I just got its new driver. I will let you know if it works any differently than before.

According to A4Tech's profile page, they make the GE-branded mice, so you must have the same software (A4Tech iWheelWorks) as does the mouse I use under their own (A4Tech) name (Optical GreatEye Wheel Mouse: 3-button (2 standard buttons, one wheel button)). Mine does not autoscroll with Netscape 7. I'm using version 7.38.0.9 of the software.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; rv:1.0.1) Gecko/20020823 Netscape/7.0

[Edward]

I removed the A4Tech mouse, also uninstalled its software, and replaced with another scroll mouse which is using the generic (?) mouse properties in Windows. Getting same response, clicking the switch (not a wheel) will scroll the page correctly when the switch is in the up or down position, but the scroll icon does not display with the generic mouse properties.

There is a computer show this coming weekend, I may look for a Logitech or other brand of mouse at the show.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; rv:1.0.2) Gecko/20021120 Netscape/7.01