Building on the already fruitfull relationship of AOL and HP, Hewlett Packard announced Monday that they will be pre-installing the Netscape browser onto all new machines.
Back in 1999 Netscape licensed their custom Internet portal service to the giant OEM. Today's announcement is the first distribution deal since the 1990s when the browser wars were strong.
Customer of HP will be able to choose Netscape as their default browser during computer setup. Icons for the browser, which will be customized with links to HP and Compaq Web sites, will appear in the Windows Start menu.
HP hopes the inbuilt anti-phishing and spyware tools will enhance users experiences with the web and their HP machines. Netscape 8 is based on Firefox, but lets users switch between both the Firefox and IE browser engines. Many Web sites have been built to work with IE, so supporting both the Firefox and IE engines maximizes compatibility.
According to news.com Nick Labosky, a director at HP, said in a statement "We specifically chose the Netscape browser because it has the added advantage of hosting numerous security features while also having the ability to run both the Triton (IE) and Gecko (Firefox) rendering engines."
View: HP
View: Netscape
Back in 1999 Netscape licensed their custom Internet portal service to the giant OEM. Today's announcement is the first distribution deal since the 1990s when the browser wars were strong.
Customer of HP will be able to choose Netscape as their default browser during computer setup. Icons for the browser, which will be customized with links to HP and Compaq Web sites, will appear in the Windows Start menu.
HP hopes the inbuilt anti-phishing and spyware tools will enhance users experiences with the web and their HP machines. Netscape 8 is based on Firefox, but lets users switch between both the Firefox and IE browser engines. Many Web sites have been built to work with IE, so supporting both the Firefox and IE engines maximizes compatibility.
According to news.com Nick Labosky, a director at HP, said in a statement "We specifically chose the Netscape browser because it has the added advantage of hosting numerous security features while also having the ability to run both the Triton (IE) and Gecko (Firefox) rendering engines."
View: HP View: Netscape
CHANGELOG:
- feature: Call Forwarding
- feature: Skype Test Call Service prepopulated to Contact List for new users
- feature: 21 new emoticons
- feature: My Pictures: possibility to choose pictures from Expressive Content
- feature: RingToneManager for Expressive Content of audio files
- feature: Contact List accessible by Microsoft Active Accessibility
- feature: API: application-to-application communication
- feature: API notifications for contactlist selection and focus
- feature: API: set profile information
- feature: API: call forwarding via API
- feature: API: support expressive content files SET RINGTONE and AVATAR
- feature: API: added OPEN [PROFILE | USERINFO | CONFERENCE | SEARCH | OPTIONS | CALLHISTORY | CONTACTS | DIALPAD | SENDCONTACTS | IMPORTCONTACTS | BLOCKEDUSERS | GETTINGSTARTED | AUTHORIZATION ] commands
- feature: multilingual EULA
- feature: advanced Skype links
- feature: number of friends displayed in Profile View form
- feature: possibility to set connecting sound from Options
- feature: added dynamic messages for help and tips
- feature: possibility to select and copy profile fields
- change: new layout for Getting Started Wizard
- change: Search window redesigned
- change: Add friend window redesigned
- Change: Import Contacts redesigned
- change: quicksearch on addressbar improved
- change: improved call related error messagas
- change: 'minimize' button minimizes Skype to taskbar
- change: warning dialaog added when calling to SkypeOut using callto: links
- change: option to disable authorization message popups
- change: MSN contact importer removed from Import Contacts
- change: upgrade prompt supressed if installer is launched with SILENT or VERYSILENT option
- change: removed latin spanish language
- change: option to view online release notes after installation removed
- change: option to create a Quick Launch icon removed from installer
- change: explanatory text in Profile View if user has not been online recently
- change: month names in Profile are translatable
- change: options dialog is changed to nonmodal
- change: Send Authorization dialog is changed to nonmodal
- change: main window minimum size changed
- change: new language files - Swedish (Anders Olsson), Finnish (Heino Keränen), Danish (Mathias Schwarz), Norwegian (Stig Auestad), German (Claudius Henrichs & Dick Schiferli), Dutch (Kees Koenders), French (Fabrice Imperial), Italian (Conte Daniele), Portuguese Brazilian(Anna Nyström ), Hebrew (Ronen Ben-Naftali), Russian (Viktoria Randalainen/Tatjana Kruti), Polish (Ewa Czekalska/Karol Szastok), Spanish - (David Reche), Estonian (Eve Loopere), Japanese (Tomo Suzumaru(Livedoor)/Mayu Shimizu), Greek (Panagiotis Sidiropoulos/Magenta LTD), Chinese Traditional (Morden Chen/PChome Online), Chinese Simplified (Leon Yang/TOM Online), Korean - (Daum Communications Corp), Romanian - (Paraschiv Ion & co), Turkish (Emin Dede) Arabic, Korean (Eriksen Translations Inc), Hungarian (Mark Bender), Bulgarian (Nikolina Filipova, Nikolay Filipov) Czech (Petr Silon)
- bugfix: shortcut to desktop - dropped always, despite preferences
- bugfix: changed sound channel usage,therefore improving the stability on older operating systems
- bugfix: improved Multi Chat behaviour on multiple monitors
- bugfix: authrequests do not pop up if your status is Do Not Disturb
- bugfix: optimized loading of user-language file
- bugfix: optimizations to have faster log-in
- bugfix: improved unicode handling on win98
- bugfix: status was incorrect in chat titlebar when disconnected
- bugfix: improved URL parsing in chat
- bugfix: addressbar search updated when new contact added
- bugfix: 'start skype when windows starts' option will revert to default
- bugfix: 'Enable All Sounds' option missed one checkbox in Options dialog
- bugfix: wrong folder created to Documents and Settings when changing avatar
- bugfix: toolbar texts not visible on clean install
- bugfix: improved error handling when selected sound file is too big
- bugfix: keybaord navigation in language editor
- bugfix: Ctrl+F in chat window shows non-active main window
- bugfix: toolbar buttons were not updated on some cases
- bugfix: API: Error is returned if OPEN ADDAFRIEND command has too many parameters
- bugfix: API: Using query id messed up replies to NAME and OPEN FILETRANSFER commands
- bugfix: API: During voicemail recording SEARCH ACTIVECALLS returned call id
- bugfix: API: When offline user tried to make a call with query id, error was returned without query id
- bugfix: API: Contactlist change notifications were sent when focused contact actually did not change
- bugfix: API: Other API messages were sent before “attach success” message
AOL outsourced Netscape development to a third party for Netscape 8.0. God knows why, considering they funded the Mozilla Foundation and already have two IE-based browsers of their own, AOL Browser and the one included in AOL client software.
Umm yes, which is why they choose Netscape. This allows them to render in Firefox's Gecko and also IE's Triton. RTFA.
Netscape and Firefox are both free, except Netscape is a GUI update (not inferring that the update was good... but an update nevertheless) of Firefox.
Why would HP ever consider PAYING for a browser? Opera doesn't belong in your statement.
Go to Opera.com
But in relation to the article, Opera's announcement came too late (just a few days ago? Should have been: few years ago?). There's no chance of HP dropping Netscape anytime soon. Better luck next year. Or maybe with other vendors.
The only reason Netscape 8.0 is on HP computers is because AOL wants their portal being used, and paid for the privilege. It has nothing to do with Netscape being able to switch between the two.
If HP actually cared about user choice, they'd put Firefox on there. Because when the average user see a site requires IE, he's not going to go digging for a Netscape preference, he's going to launch IE.
Sorry for the rant, but I think AOL's bloated spyware gives Firefox and other alternative browsers a bad name.
Something I always found funny because my computer came installed with like two other media players when I got it from an OEM, which I uninstalled right away. Says a lot for the EU's case, unless common sense and cases like this are not allowed into the court case.
Hey, the legal arguments were all BS from the start. The EU wanted some Microsoft money and they got it.
Extortion isn't a crime if a government does it.
Firefox and/or Opera would've been a better addition... but Netscape
that's retarded
Tip of the day... ask one of your friend, co-worker for a plain retail CD of windows pro... and use your key Dell or HP gave you to install a PROPER and CLEAN version of windows
I don't like Netscape personally but im sure there software has improved over the years and could still be of some use, to average Joe.
NOT!!
It saddens me
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