The reason I give this 4 stars is because of potential, not for actual use in the preview release. In fact, I still use an earlier release of Netscape even though I have the preview installed on my computer.

I have heard many unfavorable comments about Netscape 6, but these people have been way too quick to judge. In my opinion, the preview release shouldn't have been released to the entire public, and only to people with experience as beta testers. It does say, when you download, that you should be experienced if you planned on installing, but many people ignore this. They think they are getting a final product, and all that does is produce bad publicity toward the new product.

Truthfully, I have seen many bugs with the new Netscape 6 preview release. I expected this, and I anticipate the re-release. For example, I cannot copy or paste into the address bar. Also, the application seems to handle cascading style sheets incorrectly and the colors are ugly with my hideous theme on my computer (picky picky me). Also, I can't seem to customize Instant Messenger like I can with my stand alone version, and other preferences seem a little wacky. Windows open in an odd way, usually not to full size...etc etc etc.

Look at the possibility, though. This browser is going to be fully customizable. No matter how 'cutesy' it seems, the browser makes use of themes to handle colors and even arrangement within the browser itself. Also, there is a ton of information and options at every corner. Tool bars can be expanded and contracted easily, you can continue to surf all web pages while keeping an eye on stocks or news (toolbar) or even your IM buddy list, and when you have the toolbars hidden, the screen opens up to a much larger size, allowing you to see full pages and not have to scroll to read. These other problems are going to be picked out and corrected, and we are going to be left with a wonderful final product.

I ask all of you who didn't like the preview release to withhold judgement. Once you download a final version, your opinion is your own, but for now we must all simply wait, and help test.



Recommended: Yes