Netscape 7.1 User Reports/Feedbacks

DJGM · *26 Jun, 2003 1:32 pm* **Netscape 7.1 User Reports/Feedbacks**

Since a technically unofficial build of the new Netscape 7.1 browser suite was leaked
onto Netscape's FTP servers earlier today, albeit just a 261Kb "net installer", I've had
a look and so far I've found the following points . . .

For the first time in years, RealPlayer is not bundled with Netscape. Instead, it
appears to have been replaced with "Radio@Netscape Plus". Winamp is still a
part of the full package, and Winamp v2.8 was bundled with this initial build,
even though the most recently released 2.x version of Winamp is v2.91.

The bundled version of Sun Java 2 is 1.4.1_02, so at least that's up to date!

Looking at the about:plugins page, somewhat disturbingly, there are at least two
entries labelled "Microsoft DRM". I sincerely hope Netscape are not dipping their
toes in to the murky waters of Digital Restrictions Management.

The Mozilla ActiveX Control Plugin is included. As I haven't tested this item as a
seperate plugin for builds of Mozilla, I cannot really comment on the inclusion of
this with the latest Netscape. I hope this doesn't mean that Netscape will end
up subject to security problems similar to those related to ActiveX in MSIE.

As I mentioned in the UA thread, the Classic theme has a slightly revised throbber
based upon the "shiny lozenge" logo used as the NS7 application icon in Mac OS X.
At this time, the Modern theme still uses the throbber introduced in Netscape 7.0.

A new bundled extra with the new NS7.1 suite is the "McAfee Clinic Activator". The
official description for this on the setup wizard is, "for VirusScan Online installs and
updates." This item is probably not needed unless you use the antivirus software
made by McAfee. If you're using Norton, Grisoft AVG, Panda, or other antivirus
software products not made by McAfee, it's probably best not to install this.

There is another new entry on the Setup wizard (if you select Custom Setup) that's
labelled "Developer Pack". This installs the Venkman add-on normally bundled with
most Mozilla builds, for de-bugging JavaScript code. This is probably not needed
unless you're a web developer. Casual users need not bother with this item.

The mysterious Viewpoint Media Player is still included. I still don't know exactly what
this item is for, and whether it's of any real use to the average Netscape end-user.
AFAIK, or from what I've read, this item is for delivering some kind of advertising
content to your desktop. I could be wrong, but until we can find out exactly
what the purpose of this item is, I'd say it's probably best avoided for now.

As this leaked build is unlikely to be the official final "gold" release, some
or all of the abovementioned issues are of course, subject to change . . .

This concludes my findings so far. If I find anymore interesting aspects
of the new, and as yet unreleased, Netscape 7.1, I'll add them here.
Edit Subject renamed from "Netscape 7.1 - My findings so far . . ."

unsticky by Admin 12.7.2004

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.2; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030624 Netscape/7.1 (ax)

Mozilla = Swiss Army Knife: It's versatile, reliable, and contains useful tools.
Microsoft Internet Explorer = Old Swiss Cheese: Full of holes, and it stinks!

Mandrake · Joined: 13 Sep 2002 Posts: 3590

I could almost confirm that your build is not is not the 'Gold' release, as Mozilla 1.4 isn't out yet - and the build date in your UA string suggests a 1.4 nightly was used as the basis for this build of 7.1

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win 9x 4.90; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030621

Core 2 Duo E8200 (@ 3.6GHz) | Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3 | 2GB G-Skill/2GB Kingston DDR2-800 RAM (4GB total) | GeForce 9800 GTX (@ 800/2000/2500)

DJGM · *26 Jun, 2003 5:14 pm*

On closer inspection, it seems that this unofficial test build of Netscape 7.1
actually bundles Sun Java 2 v1.4.0_02, so it's not quite as up to date as I
originally stated. And the default Netscape 7.1 splashscreen has only had
one minor change since it's 7.0 predecessors, as you can see here . . .

Hopefully these minor issues will be rectified before Netscape 7.1 goes gold.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030624 Netscape/7.1 (ax)

Mozilla = Swiss Army Knife: It's versatile, reliable, and contains useful tools.
Microsoft Internet Explorer = Old Swiss Cheese: Full of holes, and it stinks!

Hendikins · *26 Jun, 2003 7:47 pm*

What does about:buildconfig report?

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030623

Michael Hendy
Mozilla PluginDoc - http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/

Hendikins - The Lurking Wolfox

Wellander · Joined: 21 Oct 2002 Posts: 2576

Hi,
I copied this from the page
about:buildconfig

Build platform
target
i586-pc-msvc

Build tools
Compiler Version Compiler flags
cl 12.00.8804 for 80x86 -TC -nologo -W3 -nologo -Gy -Fd$(PDBFILE)
cl 12.00.8804 for 80x86 -TP -nologo -W3 -nologo -Gy -Fd$(PDBFILE)

Configure arguments
--without-system-jpg --without-system-zlib --with-extensions=all --enable-optimize --disable-debug --disable-tests --enable-crypto

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030624 Netscape/7.1 (ax)

Wellander · Joined: 21 Oct 2002 Posts: 2576

Hi,
Also it has a swich profile with out closing the borwser like mozilla now has and it seems to be nmore stable.
(over netscape 7.0x)
I love that I found this early.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030624 Netscape/7.1 (ax)

Mandrake · Joined: 13 Sep 2002 Posts: 3590

Any idea what the "ax" in the UA string means?

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.1a) Gecko/20020611

Core 2 Duo E8200 (@ 3.6GHz) | Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3 | 2GB G-Skill/2GB Kingston DDR2-800 RAM (4GB total) | GeForce 9800 GTX (@ 800/2000/2500)

Fulvio · Joined: 19 Jun 2002 Posts: 10295

DJGM · *26 Jun, 2003 9:29 pm*

These items are unlikely be included in the DJGM-i Distros of NS7.1, in that case.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030624 Netscape/7.1 (ax)

Mozilla = Swiss Army Knife: It's versatile, reliable, and contains useful tools.
Microsoft Internet Explorer = Old Swiss Cheese: Full of holes, and it stinks!

jim · Joined: 16 Jun 2003 Posts: 75

The Microsoft (R) DRM is from Windows Media Player. Even if you haven't copied the plugin files from WiMP to the plugins folder, NS and Mozilla both scan for them. There's nothing to worry about (yet).

I am a bit concerned about this ActiveX thing. I hope it isn't enabled by default, since this is how so many viruses and spyware programs (Gator, Comet Cursor, etc.) get on people's systems. Then again, if NS and Mozilla become more popular, these companies will probably start abusing XPInstall anyways. ActiveX would also probably open up NS to some of the same vulnerabilities as IE.

Then again, ActiveX would be a good thing if Windows Update would work properly. That's the only thing I have to use IE for anymore.

EDIT: Here's a link to the Mozilla ActiveX plugin site: http://www.iol.ie/~locka/mozilla/plugin.htm

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030624

Edward · Joined: 01 Dec 2002 Posts: 3039

DJ,

I think you may have inadvertently listed reasons why NOT to use 7.1:

Radio @ Netscape Plus, uses RealPlayer (RealOne) to play the audio streams. So most likely, they may have kept Real in the distribution.

UserAgent: Opera/7.11 (Linux 2.4.20-4GB i586; U) [en]

SillyDog701 Moderator
User of SeaMonkey under Mandriva Linux.

jim · Joined: 16 Jun 2003 Posts: 75

profman · Joined: 11 Sep 2002 Posts: 1411 Location: US

BTW:

Speculation in the Netscape Newsgroup is that (ax) may stand for "Active X," since an activex.js file is now included.

Also, I can confim what Jim says about Winamp 3. A news article that I read said that it flopped so badly that Winamp 2 is still considered the latest, best version. I believe that the article went on to say that they are attempting to combine features of both Winamp 2 and 3 into the Winamp 5 release. See one of the latest stories

at the Globe News Site.

[Edit: The Developer (DOM package) is reported to include Chatzilla.]

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.0.2) Gecko/20030208 Netscape/7.02 (CK-profman)

profman, the mad chemist; User of Mozilla 1.7.1x, Firefox 2.0.0.x, & NS 7.2; Moderator of SillyDog Forums. Forum Search

or NETSCAPE (+ more) SOLUTIONS

DJGM · *27 Jun, 2003 8:35 pm*

Here's the new throbber . . . only in the classic theme . . .

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030624 Netscape/7.1 (ax)

Mozilla = Swiss Army Knife: It's versatile, reliable, and contains useful tools.
Microsoft Internet Explorer = Old Swiss Cheese: Full of holes, and it stinks!

Wellander · Joined: 21 Oct 2002 Posts: 2576

Hi,
I discovered that when I deleted the activeX plugin the classic theme disappeared.
Did any one else do that and experienced this?

Hi,
Cancel Some weared thing happened that all I had to do is close my browser and restart it.
(it is not a probelm like I thought it was)
Sorry If I got you all scared.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030624 Netscape/7.1 (ax)

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