Netscape Navigator
Netscape Navigator – Just a Good Start or a Viable Choice?
Netscape Navigator was a proprietary website browser that became popular during the '90s. Just Netscape (without the Navigator) is how many people called this browser. The Netscape Navigator browser is a software program that lets users locate and view info displayed or published on the World Wide Web. It is both available as a stand-alone application and as part of the Netscape Navigator package of Net access tools.
The Good and the Not So Good Points about Netscape Navigator
Internet surfers use Netscape Navigator to browse the web. They can check emails, view web pages and read online articles through the Netscape Navigator browser. Most of the data found on the web are organized into linked site pages set on different PCs that are connected to the Net. These networked PCs that store and send the info are called servers.
AT&T Wireless Plans and Netscape Navigator Interoperability
Web surfers can signup now for AT&T Wireless Plans via their Netscape browser. Choose from a variety of AT&T Wireless Plans - which include Rollover Minutes as well as unlimited nights and weekends and unlimited mobile-to-mobile amongst other AT&T users. Please note: All AT&T Wireless plans require a two-year contract and a one time $36.00 activation fee.
When a user types in a URL (universal resource locator) or clicks on a link, the Netscape web browser sends a request for that particular web page over the Internet. The computer network makes use of the URL to zero in on the server that has the site page and asks it for a copy. Once the server receives the request, it finds the requested page and sends a copy via the Internet back to the user's PC. When the data hits his computer, Netscape or Navigator Communicator displays the page along with any graphics associated with it on the Netscape browser window.
All this usually happens in a matter of minutes. The Netscape web browser displays info as hypertext documents on a web page. Every page includes a combination of links, icons, images and/or text.
A common layout on website pages shown on the Netscape Navigator browser is frames. The frames can be likened to windowpanes. There's usually one large pane and another smaller one next to it. The Navigator Communicator uses scroll bars to maneuver through the site pages. The links found on Netscape Navigator are designed to help users navigate through info. Clicking on the links will take users to different documents.
Netscape Navigator has a bunch of other useful features. These include:
- Bookmarks – The Navigator Communicator uses “Bookmarks” to describe where a user's favorite sites are stored.
- Preferences – Even before users have added any themselves, Netscape Navigator has already placed bookmarks on their list. Removing them is easily done by clicking on “Bookmarks” and choosing “Edit Bookmarks.” The Netscape Navigator browser provides users the ability of customizing many of its features.
- Netscape Email – Netscape Navigator has a built-in email program. This is accessible under the “Communicator” tab or by selecting the “Inbox” tab found on the browser window.
Much of the criticism hurled at the Netscape Navigator browser has to do with its implementation of non-standard HTML (hypertext markup language) extensions. Navigator Communicator has also been frowned upon for following actual web or Internet standards poorly, oftentimes lagging behind or executing them badly or improperly. Complaints regarding this aspect of Navigator Communicator weren't that loud at the height of its popularity as web designers back then simply developed for the Netscape Navigator browser. But it later turned into an annoyance, especially for web designers who were into providing browser backward compatibility.
All in all, Netscape Navigator was a good web browser choice until it lost its dominance due to problems and bugs regarding the graphics, JavaScript-intensive sites, and HTML tables which created problems in rendering.
Netscape Navigator Today
The latest release of the Netscape Navigator browser was also the final and last release of the browser. Netscape Navigator version 9.0 was released on October 15, 2007 and in February 2008 Netscape announced that it they were going to discontinue the browser.
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