27th July 2003, 9:39 PM
Ya sure do. Oh ABF, I've been trying out Netscape like you suggested. As far as I can tell, it's only got a total of 3 real features that IE lacks. Sure there's stuff like AIM as part of the package, but that's barely enough to be called a feature at all. Same with IE including MSN, it's just something I can get anyway.
In any case, those three features are that weird tab browsing thing, built in pop-up blocking, and per-site cookie controls.
First, let me get this out of the way. I thought maybe tab browsing really would end up being a lot cooler than it sounded, but sadly it just doesn't seem that great. I mean, so it seems they put the various boxes inside the browser instead of up on the taskbar (I keep mine on the top, dunno why...), but that hasn't sped up anything or made it easier to browse at all for me. I tried it out by purposfully having multiple threads open here. But, after a few hours of use, it just didn't seem very helpful at all. It's different, but I can just as easily click on other windows on the taskbar. I dunno, maybe I need a few days with it to really find it useful, but it's certainly no mouse scroll. Now THAT was something I instantly fell in love with, even though the first time I saw it I thought it was stupid :D.
Second, built in popup blocking is a great idea. Since it's actually built into the browser, this means it really can block pop-ups VERY effectivly since it has access to the very method used to launch pop-ups. For obvious reasons, I shut off the annoying "you blocked a pop-up" noise it plays, just like with the add-on for IE I'm already using, but aside from that, it's great. Pretty much similar blocking too. I imagine in the future a built in blocker will be able to block much more than any 3rd party add-on to a browser as well, though at the moment they are pretty much equal. This is something I'd love to see added to IE in the future, but since currently I have all the blocking I need from my add-on, it's not something that'll get me to switch.
Third, the per-site cookie moderating. All IE can do is control how cookies are stored per security level, and I can sorta group all sites I wanna allow cookies on in the "trusted sites" catagory, but it's not quite the same, or nearly as easy, as the control granted by Netscape. This feature, and this feature ALONE, is the one thing that IE really lacks that actually hurts it. The first is something I really see no use for, the second is something I have an add-on to do the function of (though admittedly having it built in IS the better way to go), but this is something IE just plain doesn't have, at least not in a way that I can actually manage easily.
However, even though these are three features IE pretty much lacks, none of them (especially the first one) are enough to really get me to switch. The cookie thing is kinda tempting, but I'll just do without. Too much of the hastle of dealing with the conflicts that come up with having navigator as the default when dealing with various other programs that like to use IE.
Also, I noticed a slew of features just added to 7.1 (well, maybe it was 7.0 it was added to, yeah I think that was the feature list it was going for) and it listed stuff IE has had for years as "brand new". For instance, I wasn't aware netscape only JUST added the ability to save all the files attached to a web page when one saves a web page, such as images and sounds and some downloads. I thought it already had it since I've used it on IE for such a long time. Not ragging on it, but I think perhaps the judgement that netscape is "always ahead of IE" like you say may just be a bit premature. I think they are currently in the same boat they have always been in, each one coming up with features the other lacks for a time. However, since IE is built in and Netscape would be kinda superfluous to have, plus those incompatibilities, minor as they are to deal with, I do believe I'll just stick with IE until Netscape really has something I need.
In any case, those three features are that weird tab browsing thing, built in pop-up blocking, and per-site cookie controls.
First, let me get this out of the way. I thought maybe tab browsing really would end up being a lot cooler than it sounded, but sadly it just doesn't seem that great. I mean, so it seems they put the various boxes inside the browser instead of up on the taskbar (I keep mine on the top, dunno why...), but that hasn't sped up anything or made it easier to browse at all for me. I tried it out by purposfully having multiple threads open here. But, after a few hours of use, it just didn't seem very helpful at all. It's different, but I can just as easily click on other windows on the taskbar. I dunno, maybe I need a few days with it to really find it useful, but it's certainly no mouse scroll. Now THAT was something I instantly fell in love with, even though the first time I saw it I thought it was stupid :D.
Second, built in popup blocking is a great idea. Since it's actually built into the browser, this means it really can block pop-ups VERY effectivly since it has access to the very method used to launch pop-ups. For obvious reasons, I shut off the annoying "you blocked a pop-up" noise it plays, just like with the add-on for IE I'm already using, but aside from that, it's great. Pretty much similar blocking too. I imagine in the future a built in blocker will be able to block much more than any 3rd party add-on to a browser as well, though at the moment they are pretty much equal. This is something I'd love to see added to IE in the future, but since currently I have all the blocking I need from my add-on, it's not something that'll get me to switch.
Third, the per-site cookie moderating. All IE can do is control how cookies are stored per security level, and I can sorta group all sites I wanna allow cookies on in the "trusted sites" catagory, but it's not quite the same, or nearly as easy, as the control granted by Netscape. This feature, and this feature ALONE, is the one thing that IE really lacks that actually hurts it. The first is something I really see no use for, the second is something I have an add-on to do the function of (though admittedly having it built in IS the better way to go), but this is something IE just plain doesn't have, at least not in a way that I can actually manage easily.
However, even though these are three features IE pretty much lacks, none of them (especially the first one) are enough to really get me to switch. The cookie thing is kinda tempting, but I'll just do without. Too much of the hastle of dealing with the conflicts that come up with having navigator as the default when dealing with various other programs that like to use IE.
Also, I noticed a slew of features just added to 7.1 (well, maybe it was 7.0 it was added to, yeah I think that was the feature list it was going for) and it listed stuff IE has had for years as "brand new". For instance, I wasn't aware netscape only JUST added the ability to save all the files attached to a web page when one saves a web page, such as images and sounds and some downloads. I thought it already had it since I've used it on IE for such a long time. Not ragging on it, but I think perhaps the judgement that netscape is "always ahead of IE" like you say may just be a bit premature. I think they are currently in the same boat they have always been in, each one coming up with features the other lacks for a time. However, since IE is built in and Netscape would be kinda superfluous to have, plus those incompatibilities, minor as they are to deal with, I do believe I'll just stick with IE until Netscape really has something I need.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)