Netscape Navigator 9 taps into Web 2.0

 

Gallery

By Simon Aughton

Posted on 8 Jun 2007 at 10:15

Netscape has unveiled its new Web browser bearing an old name. According to Netscape, the new-look Navigator 9 has more than a dozen new features, and it is arguably the first Web browser to directly tap into Web 2.0, albeit in limited fashion.

Last year the Netscape Web portal received a 'Digg-style' makeover, allowing site visitors to comment and vote on Web content. Navigator 9 lets you do that directly from the browser, with icons in the Navigator address bar that let you share stories on the portal and discuss and vote on stories shared by others.

Beyond that the new features are more functional than social. URL correction, for example, that automatically corrects common typos - googlecom becomes google.com for instance - and various ways of storing and organising links.

The Link Pad, a new sidebar feature, lets you save links and URLs by simply dragging and dropping them. Clicking on an item in the Link Pad will open it in the browser and remove it from the list. As an alternative to bookmarking sites that you may not wish to visit again it could be useful.

In common with most other browsers, RSS feeds are now supported; unlike most other browsers, Navigator 9 supports Firefox extensions, making it easy to customise and add features.

Form filling has been improved with the ability to enlarge form fields. And if the browser crashes, the restart feature will restore all the current tabs.

Netscape Navigator 9 is available from /browser.netscape.com for Linux, Mac, Unix and Windows systems.