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Legacy Applications
Netscape 8
SUMMARY: Tips for the Netscape 8 web browser, which you can use to view webpages in either Mozilla or Internet Explorer-style.
Download and Install Netscape 8
Looking for a browser alternative to Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox? Consider the free Netscape 8 web browser. Besides supporting tabbed browsing and other common features, Netscape 8 can also warn you if you accidentally try to visit known spyware sites.
Netscape renders websites using the engine that Mozilla Firefox is based on, plus it allows you to optionally render trusted or selected websites with Internet Explorer if they don't render correctly otherwise.
To download, just open your current browser, be it Netscape, Internet Explorer, Opera, or whatever, and visit one of the following URLs:
* Download.Com
* Oldversion.Com
Click the "Download Now" button to begin the download process. Save the small file to disk, then run it. Follow the onscreen prompts and be sure to read the end-user license agreement!
During the download process you'll be able to choose a theme.
When you get to the second page, consider pressing the "Advanced Settings" buttons. From here you can:
* Disable Netscape's reporting of "anonymous browser usage statistics" (recommended to turn this off).
* Disable Netscape from using Internet Explorer to render trusted sites.
Netscape will also prompt you to install "Partner Software", which may include Real Arcade and desktop weather from The Weather Channel. Decide whether or not you want such software.
At the end of the installation, you'll br prompted whether you wish to import your bookmarks or other settings from other browsers installed on your machine. This way you can more easily visit sites you view often with another browser.
Change or Clear the Home Page
Tired of seeing Netscape-related product information every time you restart the Netscape 8 browser? Would you like to start Netscape 8 with a blank page, or a webpage (or webpages) of your choice?
1. Select "Tools" - "Options".
2. When the "Options" dialog box appears, click "General" in the left pane.
3. Now, in the right pane:
* To clear your home page, click "Use Blank Page".
* To use a bookmark as your home page, click "Use Bookmark" and select the desired page.
* To set a webpage as your bookmark, you can visit a webpage, then come back here and click "Use Current Page". Or, enter the web URL next to "Location(s)".
If you would like multiple home pages opened in different tabs, enter their URLs next to "Location(s)" separated by a pipe symbol (|).
For example, to open up MalekTips, CNN, and Google as your home pages, enter the following next to "Location(s)":
http://malektips.com|http://cnn.com|http://google.com
4. Click "OK" to save your settings.
Make Text Easier to Read
Do you find webpage text too hard to read? If so, you can change the size of text displayed on webpages with Netscape 8.
(Note this does not work on every webpage but a high percentage of them. Some websites force text to display in a certain size no matter what.)
* To increase the text size, choose "View" - "Text Size" - "Increase". Or, press CTRL and = (or CTRL and + on the numeric keypad).
* To decrease the text size, choose "View" - "Text Size" - "Decrease". Or, press CTRL and -.
* To return the text size to the default, choose "View" - "Text Size" - "Normal". Or, press CTRL and 0.
Clear the Search History
Next to the "Home" icon in Netscape 8 you will notice a textbox labeled with "G" and a "Search" button next to it. If you enter text in the box and click "Search", a Google search is performed for your entered keywords. Note that depending on future updates you may be able to use search engines other than Google.
Your search history is normally kept between Netscape 8 browser sessions, allowing you access to recent queries without having to retype them. Some people may find this feature useful, but others may have concerns about their privacy, especially if they work on a machine they share with others. Thus, you have the option of clearing the search history whenever exiting the browser:
1. Select "Tools" - "Options".
2. When the "Options" dialog box appears, click "Privacy" in the left pane.
3. In the right pane, click on the plus sign next to "Search History" to expand the tree.
4. Check "Clear Search History on browser exit".
5. Click "OK" to save your settings.
Stop Opening the Current Webpage As a New Tab
Whenever you open a new tab to browse more websites in the same Netscape 8 window (press CONTROL-T), the current webpage is re-opened in this new tab. Generally when you open a new tab, however, you will want to open a different webpage. Thankfully, this potentially-annoying behavior can be changed so that opening new tabs open up blank pages instead.
1. Select "Tools" - "Options".
2. When the "Options" dialog box appears, click "Tab Browsing" in the left pane.
3. In the right pane, scroll down to "When a new tab is created open with".
4. Click the pull-down to the right of the aforementioned text and select "Blank".
5. Click "OK" to save your settings.
Stop Images From Resizing
When viewing picture files, Netscape 8 automatically resizes images that would be too big to see on your monitor all at once. This helps prevent seeing the horizontal or vertical scroll bar that would normally be required to view the whole image.
You can find out if an image has been automatically resized by hovering the mouse pointer over the image. If the mouse pointer turns into a magnifying glass with a plus (+) sign, click it to view the full image. You can then hover over the image and your magnifying glass will contain a minus (-) sign. Click the image again to see the resized version.
While some like this functionality, others would rather scroll through the entire image by default. To turn this feature off:
1. From Netscape 8, choose "Tools" - "Options".
2. When the "Options" dialog box appears, click "Advanced" in the left pane.
3. Uncheck "Resize large images to fit in the browser window".
4. Press "OK" to close the dialog box.
Render Sites Like Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer
Netscape 8 lets you view websites just as if you had visited them with either the Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox web browsers.
If you are concerned about ActiveX controls or other Internet Explorer-only features, you can view websites in a Mozilla Firefox-like environment. Likewise, if websites demand Internet Explorer features, such as many banking and financial sites, you can view them as if they were rendered with Internet Explorer. This way you don't have to keep switching web browsers depending on the site.
To see how a website is currently being rendered, look at the bottom-left corner of Netscape 8. You should either see a Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer logo. To render the site with the other browser, click the logo and choose "Display Like..." and the desired browser.
Note that depending on your browsing needs, you may see many websites automatically rendering like they would with Internet Explorer. If you do not wish this to occur, change the Netscape 8 defaults to render trusted web sites like Mozilla Firefox.
Stop Trusted Sites From Automatically Displaying Like Internet Explorer
Netscape 8 has a built-in Trust Rating System that is turned on by default. This helps to protect you by limiting the operations that unknown or seemingly-untrustworthy sites can perform. For example, sites that Netscape 8 thinks are untrustworthy will have any JavaScript or Java applets blocked in hopes to better protect your computer from spyware, viruses, and other malicious software.
By default, Netscape 8 will automatically view trusted sites like Internet Explorer, allowing sites to use ActiveX controls and other features not available via the Mozilla Firefox renderer. This means that visiting sites like eBay, CNN, and FOX News will automatically render just as they would if you visited them with the Internet Explorer browser.
If you do not want to allow most sites access to ActiveX controls or other Internet Explorer-only features, you can force Netscape 8 to view even trusted sites like they would if you visited them via Mozilla Firefox. To make this change:
1. From Netscape 8, choose "Tools" - "Options".
2. When the "Options" dialog box appears, click "Site Controls" in the left pane.
3. In the right pane, make sure that "Site List" is selected.
4. Underneath "Master Settings", click "I Trust This Site".
5. Underneath "Rendering Engine", select "Firefox".
6. Click "OK" to close the dialog box.
For more information about the Trust Rating System, visit Netscape's website.
Don't Trust Any Sites By Default!
As mentioned in tip Netscape 8 - Stop Trusted Sites From Automatically Displaying Like Internet Explorer , Netscape 8 has a Trust Ratings System that helps determine whether websites should be allowed to perform advanced options such as display JavaScript or Java Applets.
While you can trust Netscape 8's site ratings to help better protect you when browsing the web, some people would rather not trust any website unless they explicitly give the site extra permissions. In this case, for maximum protection, you can disable the site ratings and default every site to either unknown or untrustworthy.
1. From Netscape 8, choose "Tools" - "Options".
2. When the "Options" dialog box appears, click "Site Controls" in the left pane.
3. In the right pane, click the "Trust Preferences" tab.
4. Select "Do Not Use Netscape Trust Ratings".
5. Next to "Always use this setting as a default", choose "I'm Not Sure" or "I Don't Trust This Site". Although "I Trust This Site" can also be chosen, that is not recommended.
6. Click "OK" to close the dialog box.
Note that previously-trusted sites will keep their settings unless you manually change them; this only works for newly-visited sites.
Make Netscape 8 Your Default Browser
Activate Netscape 8 whenever you click on website hyperlinks from e-mail or other Internet-ready software.
After using Netscape 8 for awhile, you may decide to make it your default web browser if it is not already. To do so:
1. From Netscape 8, choose "Tools" - "Options".
2. When the "Options" dialog box appears, click "General" in the left pane.
3. In the right pane, underneath "Default Browser", click "Check Now".
4. Click "Yes" when the following dialog appears.
5. Click "OK" to close the dialog box.
Note that depending on your settings, when you open other web browsers, including your previously-default web browser, they may once-again ask if they should become your default browser.
Navigate Using the Keyboard
Need to quickly jump back and forth between websites with Netscape 8? The following keyboard shortcuts can save you from having to click toolbar buttons.
Back One Page: ALT-Left Arrow
Forward One Page: ALT-Right Arrow
Home Page: ALT-Home
Toggle Playing Sounds When Popups Are Blocked
Netscape 8 can be configured to play a sound whenever a popup window is blocked. This way you can aurally know when the browser is doing its job. Many people, however, would rather not hear this sound when visiting their favorite websites. To toggle this feature on or off:
1. From Netscape 8, choose "Tools" - "Options".
2. When the "Options" dialog box appears, click "Advanced" in the left pane.
3. In the right pane, underneath "Browsing", check or uncheck "Play sound when pop-up is blocked" as desired.
4. Click "OK" to close the dialog box.
Note that:
1) If you have a firewall or anti-spyware program blocking pop-ups, they may block these before getting to Netscape. Thus since Netscape doesn't see the popups, no sound will play.
2) Likewise, if you turn this feature off and still hear sounds whenever pop-ups are blocked, check your resident anti-spyware software or firewall configuration to see if some other application is playing sounds.
Change the Download Folder
Depending on your configuration, when you download files with Netscape 8 they may automatically be saved to your Desktop, or you may be prompted each time where to save files. If you would like to change this setting, either to always prompt you or to download files to a different folder:
1. From Netscape 8, choose "Tools" - "Options".
2. When the "Options" dialog box appears, click "Downloads" in the left pane.
3. In the right pane: If you want to be prompted where to save each download, click the "Ask me where to save every file" radio button.
Likewise, to save downloads in a different folder click the "Save all files to this folder" radio button. Choose a folder name from the pull-down or click "Other" to choose another folder on your hard drive.
If desired, click "Show Folder" to browse the contents of your currently-selected download folder.
4. When finished with your selection, click "OK" to close the dialog box.
Change the Default Search Engine
If you need to search the Internet with Netscape 8, instead of going to a search-engine's page, you can press CONTROL-K or click inside the toolbar box next to the "G" to search Google. Just type in your search query and press ENTER (or the "Search" button).
What if you don't want to use Google? Click on the "G" and a pull-down will appear, allowing you to change the default search engine to one of the following (accurate as of 1/1/06):
* AOL
* Ask Jeeves
* Google
* Netscape
* Yahoo!
Disable Tab Close on Double-Click
By default in Netscape 8, whenever you double-click a tab, it will close. Many expert users prefer this functionality as it removes the need to right-click a tab or use a keyboard shortcut. However, it is easy to accidentally click twice when trying to select a tab, causing unwanted webpage closings. If you would like to disable this double-click close behavior:
1. From Netscape 8, choose "Tools" - "Options".
2. When the "Options" dialog box appears, click "Tab Browsing" in the left pane.
3. In the right pane, uncheck "Double click to close tab".
4. Click "OK" to close the dialog box.
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