I'm providing this information for those who are using a Netscape web browser. Netscape for many years was my favorite web browser. You couldn't get me to use another web browser even if you paid me, and I felt that Netscape was a far superior web browser in many ways, and I freely recommended it to everyone I knew who used the Internet. For the purpose of reference, my first exposure to Netscape was with early versions of Netscape 4.x, and the most competitive browser to it was Microsoft Internet Explorer 3 and Internet Explorer 4, which had certain issues with Java. During this time, when using Internet Explorer on the Internet I would frequently encounter difficulties viewing many web pages. However, Netscape seemed to handle most everything on the Internet, including Java, and required little or no plug-ins.
I've recently had a major change of heart with Netscape. Quite frankly, I've become very disappointed with their product and services. Although the following text is rather lengthy, it's worth reading in it entirety.
About a month ago, I had been having difficulty accessing my Netscape Web Mail account unless I was using a Netscape Web Browser. Since I had noticed that every time I was able to access my Netscape Web Mail account, I would be taken to a blank page that was entitled "Test", and then to my Inbox, I couldn't help but wonder if Netscape was looking at what browser was being used, and giving priority to Netscape Users when the server was busy. After all, I seemed to have this problem only during times when the Internet was usually busy. And if I wasn't using a Netscape web browser, I couldn't get past the log in page. I would enter my user ID and password, then simply be taken back to the log in page instead of my inbox. Furthermore, this problem seemed to occur regularly, regardless of who's computer I would be using to check my email.
I decided to contact Netscape support and ask them about the difficulties I was having accessing my Netscape Web Mail account. Of course this wasn't all that easy since I had to be careful about which support I chose. Email support was free, but if I wanted to communicate with a real person, I would have been required to pay a fee of $29.00 (US currency) per incident.
I clicked the email support button and soon began writing Netscape support about my problem. It wasn't long before I received an automated response to my email, which incidently offered no information about my question. It did however contain some disturbing information about Netscape Web Browsers. Paragraph two of their email states the following: "Please note: As of April 24th, 2001, versions of Netscape Communicator prior to 4.74 will no longer be supported. These older products have reached their End of Life and email support has been discontinued for them. If you have a version prior to 4.74, you are encouraged to upgrade to Communicator 4.76 or greater." The reason I found this so disturbing was because I was, for a long time, using Netscape 4.73, 128 bit encryption, and so is everyone I had recommended the Netscape Web Browser too.
It took a couple of days to get another email reply from Netscape about the problems I was having accessing my Netscape Web Mail account. When it did arrive, it simply directed me to send another email about my problem to another email address. It seemed to me that they had intended to give me the run around about this, and since my problem was with a simple Internet email account, I decided that it wasn't worth the effort and simply moved my email account somewhere else.
While I had been waiting for a real response to my email question, I decided to look into the most recent version of Netscape Communicator. After all, I had recommended the Netscape Web Browser to everyone I knew, and since I also author and maintain a web site for a local museum, as well as a few others, I felt it was my obligation to look into the latest version. Since everyone I had recommended the Netscape Communicator browser to was also using the 128 bit encryption version, that's what I decided to look for on Netscape's web site.
So off I went to the Netscape Download Page to get the most recent version of Communicator. When I pulled up their main download page I discovered that Netscape 4.77 was the most current version offered by Netscape. I also discovered that they had available for download ALL of the previous versions of Netscape Communicator they had just finished telling me that they would no longer support. But nowhere on their web site did they offer any 128 bit encryption versions of Netscape. I didn't find this too disturbing since the 4.73 version I had downloaded a little over a year ago, was only available by accessing their archives through anonymous FTP. So I minimized my browser, launched my FTP software, and began searching their files for the 128 bit encryption version of Communicator 4.77. I searched every folder and sub folder, and nowhere could I find a 128 bit encryption version their latest web browser.
Even though I knew that anything that was available on their download page should have been available by anonymous FTP, and then some; I entertained the fact that I may have missed something. So I went back to their download page, and began a search specifically for 128 bit encryption versions of Netscape. I was then taken to a page that offered various plug-ins for Netscape, and found one for 128 bit high encryption. This of course was a link to a third party web site. So I clicked the link, went to their web site, and discovered that this company only offered 128 bit encryption plug-ins for versions of Netscape Communicator up to 4.72, a version that had already been deemed obsolete by Netscape. By this time I decided it was once again time to send Netscape Support an email, asking them if Communicator 4.77 did in fact come in a 128 bit encryption version, and if not, would one be released any time soon?
Once again I received an automated response to my email. In fact it was identical to the one I received when emailed them my question concerning my Netscape Web Mail account. It was about two days later when I received a response from Netscape Support addressing my question about a 128 bit encryption version of Communicator 4.77. It was a one line reply that simply stated that Netscape Communicator 4.77 only comes in 128 bit encryption. I said to myself "Great!. But why couldn't they put this information on their download page?"
Satisfied that Communicator 4.77 was 128 bit encryption I went back to their download page and downloaded the setup program using a good download manager to ensure a clean download. After my almost two hour, uneventful download was complete, I logged off of the Internet and launched the setup program. This is where my patience began to run short. After the setup program extracted nine percent of the files I received a file decompression error, and a message informing me that there was insufficient space available in my TEMP folder. Knowing that I had in excess of 1.3 GB of available disk space, I found this rather odd. So I went through the standard motions anyone should go through when having installation troubles. I restarted my computer, exited all running applications, and launched the setup program again. This time, and every time afterward that I ran the setup program, I received the exact same error.
So it was back to the Netscape web site to look for information about installation problems. I quickly found the FAQ's (frequently asked questions) for Communicator 4.77 and discovered that this was a known problem. So I printed out the instructions on how to resolve the issue, and went to work. Of course, none of the methods they offered to correct the problem should really be done by the average computer user, even if they did provide instructions.
First I was instructed to check my autoexec.bat file to make sure that it included a line that read "SET TEMP=C:\TEMP" vice "SET TEMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP", and to make sure that I had a folder named "TEMP" in my root directory. It also suggested that I check my "TEMP" folder to make sure there were no other files in it before running the setup program. I did as they instructed, but this did not solve my problem.
The next thing I was instructed to do was to scan my entire hard drive for all occurrences of "uninst.exe" and "_isdel.exe" (two programs used for the un-installation of software), and to open up the properties box for each file and make sure they were marked as "Archived" only. Since they were already marked as "Archived", and nothing else, this was obviously not the problem.
The last thing I was instructed to do was to change my video driver from what it currently was, to standard VGA, run the Communicator 4.77 setup program again, then go to the web site for my video card and download an updated driver. By this time I was thinking to myself, "Oh Come on!" But in the interest of being fair, I decided to do this. This did not solve my problem either.
Now I'm back to sending yet another email to Netscape Support in an attempt to find out why I can't seem to install their software. Granted, it was possible that I got a bad download, but unlikely. And since my problem was already a known problem, it was even more unlikely. So I wrote Netscape Support another email explaining my problem, and also asking them if this could be compatibility issue since I was trying to install their web browser under Windows Me. After all, nowhere on Netscape's web site was there any mention of the Windows Me operating system. The only operating systems mentioned anywhere on their web site when I visited it were Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows 2000.
Once again I got the usual automated response I had received the previous two times I emailed them, and once again it took about two days before I got a response from them addressing my problem. It was a simple one sentence email instructing me to go to their download page, and download the Communicator 4.77 setup program, and install it from my hard drive. Since I had already explained that this is what I was trying to do, I felt that I was simply being brushed off. And as for my question concerning the compatibility of their software with Windows Me, it remains unanswered.
At this point, realizing that I wasn't going to get any real support form Netscape unless I paid for it, I decided to go back to their web site and look for additional information. I quickly found the Communicator 4.77 Release Notes, and printed out the eleven page document. What I found was eleven pages of nothing but known bugs and fixes for this software. Things like: "If your computer does not have a sound card, and you visit a site with RMF (Beatnik sound) content embedded in it, your system will crash." Beatnik incidently is an audio plug in automatically installed with Communicator 4.77. "A zero length "cert7.db" file in the profile directory can cause Communicator to crash at startup."; "Printing problems may occur with the use of the Adobe Postscript printer driver (ADOBES4.drv, version 4.10.126) in Windows 95 and Windows 98." This list goes on. Of course they offer fixes for most all of these known problems, however none of them can really be done by the average computer user, let alone a novice. By the time I reached the bottom of the second page of the release notes, I had already decided that I didn't want this software in my computer. It simply wasn't worth the aggravation, and this software was obviously very poorly written. No one should have to go to this much trouble to install any software in their computer, especially a web browser.
There were other issues mentioned in their release notes, some of them addressing web authoring, others pertaining to other operating systems. Once again, no mention of the Windows Me operating system was found. Personally, I don't think that a web author should have to go to far out of their way to accommodate any one particular web browser. Granted, when authoring any web site you need to make it accessible by as many people as possible, regardless of their choice of web browser. But lets face it, we have to draw the line somewhere. It's already known that Netscape 4.73 as well as it predecessors, does not properly handle all Cascading Style Sheet scripts, and that many JavaScripts need to be modified to work properly in a Netscape Web Browser. The questions here are: Where do we as web authors draw the line in regards to accessibility? Should those of us who are web authors have our creativity limited by any one particular web browser, the functionality of which is as best somewhat limited? And should those who like one particular web browser, regardless of it popularity, be limited in their accessibility to web sites because the browser they choose to use doesn't seem to have the ability to keep up with technology?
As far as my own personal web site is concerned, the solution is a rather simple one. After everything I have been through with Netscape, and the fact that I spent over a week trying to install their software with no success; the fact that Netscape really offers no useful support unless you're willing to pay a hefty fee for it; the fact that even if I did pay for the technical support, I would have spent almost $90.00 (US currency) and still may not have been able to install their software on my computer; I have simply decided that I am not all that concerned about Netscape any longer. Of course I don't have this luxury with the other web sites I author, but as far as my personal site is concerned, If you're using Netscape and you are having trouble viewing my site, I suggest you simply close Netscape and view it with Microsoft Internet Explorer 5. I have never had a problem with IE5, IE5 has always rendered my web pages exactly the way I have written them, something Netscape doesn't do, and last but not least, I have never had to even so much as read any FAQ's on IE5, and it is currently my preferred web browser. If by chance you are opposed to using IE for any reason, I suggest that you click the "TEXT ONLY" button at the bottom of my menu.
As far as other options with Netscape are concerned, I have two. I could download and run the Communicator 4.77 setup program again. But after everything I have just been through with Netscape, I decided that I have neither the desire nor inclination to spend another two hours downloading software that I still may not be able to successfully install, and I certainly can't justify purchasing the software directly from Netscape. Secondly, I could download and install Netscape 6. However, I have recently read so many derogatory things about Netscape 6, that I've decided I don't want IT in my computer either.
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