Netscape 8.0 (beta)

Netscape has released a beta version of a much-anticipated browser that takes advantage of the recent and wildly successful Mozilla Firefox 1.0 release. It's no surprise that the so-called Netscape prototype runs the Gecko engine that also powers the Firefox browser (Netscape owner AOL Time Warner spun off the Mozilla team as a non-profit last year). But there's a surprise in this early version: the future Netscape also renders pages in Internet Explorer. This early version doesn't install IE; instead, it relies on the version already installed on your PC.

Also new is built-in anti-spyware. Sites listed on Netscape's spyware and phishing blacklist (supplied by third-party anti-spam and anti-phishing vendors) will be denied ActiveX and cookie access on your desktop.

Although Mozilla has done stunningly well -- some attribute IE's recent popularity decline to Firefox -- it can't do everything. Anyone using Firefox every day will notice that certain Web sites don't render quite right in it, and some secure sites, such as banks, still require IE for login. The Netscape beta allows you to browse most of the time with Gecko, which is arguably more secure software, and then switch to IE rendering if you need it. The switch is easy in the nascent Netscape interface, which offers Firefox-style tabbed browsing. Just type in a URL, then click an icon on the tab that reloads the page in IE. You won't see any change in the browser shell or interface -- just the Web site re-rendered on the same tab.

The early Netscape version also packs in many more bells and whistles than spartan Firefox. Beyond your basics, such as an address bar and navigation buttons, Netscape throws in two newsfeed tickers and the ability to add RSS feeds in one click, as well as prominent icons for a pop-up blocker and an automated form-filler. In our very informal use of this prototype, pages load refreshingly quickly.

The Netscape prototype has a busy header and is very, very green.

 AOL/Netscape's motivation for releasing a Mozilla-style browser is clear: Recapture lost surfers and send them back to the Netscape portal over and over and over again. Hence, the Netscape browser has a whole lot of Netscape marketing going on. An otherwise nifty temperature window on the browser takes you only to Netscape's weather centre, and the entire browser is coloured a very Netscape-style green.

Given this browser's unique talent -- rendering in two different engines -- a future public release will make life easier for millions of surfers. The browser wars are indeed heating up again, with Internet Explorer losing its dominant market share little by little each month. Whether Netscape maintains its status as the best alternative to Internet Explorer depends on continued support from AOL Time Warner, user acceptance and luck. Microsoft recently announced plans to release Internet Explorer 7.0 in the summer of 2005, promising many features similar to Netscape's.