Re: Mozilla vs Netscape?
- From: "Vito DiLuminoso" <fizzicist@xxxxxxx>
- Date: 22 Aug 2005 18:46:17 -0700
AES wrote:
> In article <1124663947.726524.99370@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
> "Vito DiLuminoso" <fizzicist@xxxxxxx> wrote:
(snip)
> So, are there any good or even compelling reasons to shift to Mozilla,
> with all the investment of time always involved in downloading,
> installing, and learning to use a different app?
General Disclaimer: Naturally I'm biased in favor of Mozilla because
I've chosen it over Netscape, but my bias is based on my own criteria.
If your criteria are different, my preferences might not apply.
Nevertheless, Netscape and the Mozilla Suite are built on the same code
base, so there aren't as many differences as one might think. Here's
the lowdown from my perspective:
Downloading:
Downloading Moz is no different than downloading Netscape, except that
Netscape takes longer because it's fatter. If you have a cable
connection, we're talking about a few seconds' difference, but on a
dialup connection Netscape's download time is probably noticeably
longer.
Installing:
It's drag and drop into the location of your choice for both apps, so
there's no difference there.
Learning:
I doubt you'll find two application suites that impose a shorter
learning curve for transitioning from one to the other. The last time I
checked, Netscape reversed the order of some items in one or two places
-- I think it might have been in the "Mail and Newsgroups Account
Settings...", but if you're only using the browser that won't affect
you. I think there are some minor differences in the Preferences window
too, but I'm not sure about that. In any case, I don't recall any
significant differences in the browsers. If you're comfortable with
Netscape, you'll be comfortable with Mozilla.
Oh, one other thing: Both Netscape and Mozilla look for a folder
entitled "Mozilla" in your User library, so when you install Mozilla
and launch it for the first time, it will automatically load all your
Netscape preferences, security certificates, mail accounts...everything
in your Netscape default Profile folder. That's handy. As I recall,
Mozilla doesn't mess with anything in there, but the same is not true
of Netscape. In other words, you can load a Netscape profile into
Mozilla, and when you quit Moz and re-open Netscape using the same
profile, everything is OK. On several occasions in the past, I found
that I couldn't go the other way without Netscapte corrupting the
Mozilla profile. However, that might have been specific to the versions
of Netscape and Moz that I was using at the time.
If there's any doubt, just play it safe by duplicating the entire
Mozilla folder in your User library, and rename the copy something like
"NetscapeMozilla". Then you can used the "Mozilla" folder's contents
for Mozilla without worry. When you want to use Netscape, rename the
"Mozilla" folder "MoMozilla", or something, and then change the
"NetscapeMozilla" folder's name back to "Mozilla". When you launch
Netscape, it will look for the folder entitled "Mozilla", and you'll be
running from a profile that is untouched by Mozilla.
WARNING: Because they use the same profile, you can't run Netscape and
Mozilla at the same time. Mozilla will not let you launch it if the
profile is already in use by Netscape (or another version of Mozilla),
and it just politely notifies you of that fact and then quits. As I
recall, Netscape does the same thing, but I can't swear to it based on
my memory.
As to whether there are any compelling reasons to use Mozilla over
Netscape, that's your call, not mine. In the past, I've liked the fact
that Mozilla was more aggressively developed (more frequent releases),
so new features showed up sooner in Moz than in Netscape. Also,
Netscape is quite a bit fatter than Moz. With all of the features that
caused the bloat being stuff I never use anyway, Netscape imposed
excess baggage with no benefits. Slower load times, and all that. It
remains to be seen whether those benefits will continue now that the
Moz Suite has been spun off as the SeaMonkey Project.
Actually, for my purposes, the overwhelmingly compelling reason to use
Moz is the tight integration among its component apps -- principally
the browser, mail client, and editor. But those advantages exist in
Netscape too, and they're not of any value to you for your purposes.
So, despite my bias toward Mozilla for the reasons I've stated here,
I'm not sure any of those reasons constitute a sufficiently compelling
argument for you to switch to Moz from Netscape. As long as it's
working for you...well, you know the old saying... "If it ain't broken,
don't fix it."
Vito
.
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- From: Vito DiLuminoso
- Mozilla vs Netscape?
- From: AES
- Sane web editor?
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