Netscape Browser 8.0

[epp_b]

Coincidence? I think not.... <insert evil cackle here>

[Ed_P]

MS advices people to uninstall netscape:http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-5721852.html

The registry edit mentioned in the article is:Close all instances of IE.START->RUNType: regeditHit ENTERNavigate to the following:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Plugins\ExtensionHighlight and right-click the node titled "xml" and select delete.

What next for this browser?

When you select 'clear my tracks now' from the Clear History browser button it wipes out the IE 6 history and cookies as well.They are working on a patch.

[James M. Fisher]

That reg repair works, btw. I could not read my Messenger chat history, so I uninstalled NS8, did the fix and all is fine again. Back to FF! :">

[hkspike]

I don't get you guys. You despise IE. You adore FF but deplore their failure to control extensions. Now issues arise with Netscape 8 and off we go again. Issues arise with Java. I have no doubt all the wise advice on this site is perfect but it misses the point -The web is being broken because those who write the code for these browsers seem to miss the point that it really has to work "out the box". Joe Bloggs (what do you call him in the US?) is not going to pop in here and ask sage questions and meddle with basic settings, nevermind the registry.Don't get me wrong, I'm not a programmer but I seriously question the testing, at any level, that goes on with these products. The average user wants to use it like his car or his TV: turn it ON and GO. If cars or TVs needed patches, this disaster might have been fixed long ago as, perhaps, Joe Public would have learned by now but history didn't play out that way.JP expects the web to be there and safe: either these products must be tested to death before release or they must live in an absolute sandbox and not crawl out. I don't need any market research for this: I just watch my teenage daughter - she goes mindlessly where her pals send her. In her life, there never hasn't been a web. It's the same as dinner on the table. TV. Air. It just is.I bow to your technical knowledge but we're fixing the wrong part.Andy

[James M. Fisher]

I don't get you guys. You despise IE.

Not me, Andy. I like IE (I'm using it now, in fact), but I wish MS had kept up with basics such as tabbed browsing.

[Neil P]

I don't understand. Firefox is a very well tested browser. There are thousands of people who use nightly builds and file bugs when problems arise. To me, the simple fact that IE doesn't support the standards nearly as well as Firefox is reason enough to not use it, but I'm in the extreme minority on that part.Firefox is very much a useable product out of the box. It is simply not possible to have an absolutely secure product. It will never happen. Ever. Therefore, as security bugs are found, it's up to the vendor to patch them. I disagree with your "if cars or TVs needed patches..", what about product recalls?As for extensions, the problem is much more complex than it seems. There are nearly NO extensions that are "official", in that they aren't provided by mozilla.org. Now, there are several extensions created by developers (chatzilla comes closest to being official, gmail notifier is made by a developer, magpie is made by ben goodger himself, etc.), but mozilla.org does not certify extensions. They can't--it would be impossible to code-review all of the extensions (they're backed up reviewing code for the browser, extensions would never get done).As for Netscape, I just don't like it. Really, I don't like the fact that they fired all of the developers, but still use the code (why not, it's free, right?).Plus, it's ugly

[havnblast]

and it continues.....Netscape 8 May Give Green Light to Spyware Sites

The new browser gives a green "trusted" rating when it brings up www.hotbar.com, a Web site that distributes a program that adds graphical skins to Internet Explorer toolbars, in addition to a Hotbar toolbar and stealth monitoring software, Edelman claims. A copy of the new browser downloaded and tested by eWEEK does confirm Edelman's claim: The green "trustworthy" symbol is displayed on the hotbar.com home page as well as on a page on the Hotbar site that attempts to download the software to users' machines. A green "trusted" sign is also displayed on the download page at www.ABetterInternet.com, another Web site that downloads and installs monitoring software.

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,18226...3119TX1K0000594

[Guest LilBambi]

Now that is just plain wrong...but what do you expect ...This is the same company that tries to gently trick those who don't know better to install things like the ViewPoint Media Player, Wild Tangent, and Weatherbug with their simple IM client, AOL Instant Messenger.They also say that anything you post through that very client, or on any of their hosted webspaces etc., can be used in any way they see fit.And they totally disallow you to have your firewall set to stealthmode like you can do with any other decent ISP ... why, because they are so snoopy ... even if you give AOL all the rights they want through the firewall, you still can't run stealthed. ZoneAlarm HAS to be run in Medium mode if used in conjunction with AOL on the computer.IMHO, the only reason they like McAfee (and give it away to AOL users) is because AOL users will have their firewall settings set for them AOL's liking and never be the wiser.This is also the same company that changes massive amounts of system files on Windows computers with their own files.This is also the same company that installs a lame spyware program that doesn't even take care of what some of the lesser anti-spyware companies take care of...at least the last time I looked.I am not at all surprised by this turn of events.As far as I understand it, the new Netscape browser was primarily made to be integrated within AOL and non AOL users will 'benefit' from that development by using the new Netscape.This is not the Netscape we all knew and loved back in the early days of the Internet. If you want anything close to that kind of a 'benign' browser these days, you probably need to look at a free Mozilla offering, or buy Opera.Just my two cents.

Edited June 2, 2005 by LilBambi

[patio]

lil' bambi i think you said it all...patio.

[Corrine]

Here's Ben Edelman's report:Netscape 8's "Trust Rating System" - Screenshotshttp://www.benedelman.org/spyware/ns8/

[Guest LilBambi]

Ben is great!And this is just plain sad -- after Ben shows screenshots noting that ABetterInternet.com, HotBar.com, eZula.com and webHancer are among the TRUSTED sites?!! Ben says the following:

How did Netscape get into this mess? It seems that Netscape has delegated much of its ratings process to TRUSTe. But TRUSTe issus certificates merely on the basis of sites posting a web site privacy policy and agreeing to mediate disputes in a particular way. TRUSTe lacks serious enforcement procedures, and TRUSTe stands willing to certify a web site on the basis of its web site practices, even if the site serves primarily as a conduit for software (perhaps "spyware" or "adware") with practices inconsistent with the web site's privacy policy. So TRUSTe-certified sites may not be as trustworthy as the label suggests.

Now that's just plain wrong and deceptive.

[Corrine]

You're going to love this from Suzi's blog:

The Netscape page says TRUSTe provides Netscape with a list of its certified Web sites and known trademark violators. I perused the list of the certified Web sites and found these:abetterinternet.comcursormania.comdirect-revenue.com (creators of Aurora and nail.exe)ebates.comezula.comfunbuddyicons.comfunwebproducts.comhotbar.comiwon.commypctuneup.commyway.commywebsearch.comsex.comsmileycentral.comweatherbug.comwebhancer.comwhenu.com

[Guest LilBambi]

GRRRRRR! Just figures!

[Ed_P]

Well, I see myway.com in that list and I use myway.com as a homepage and find nothing wrong with it. No adware, no spyware, etc. It's a better design than excite.com's page yet has the same options.I wouldn't recommend some of the others though. iwon.com and weatherbug.com for example.

[Guest LilBambi]

Myway/MySearch

Full Name: MySearch WebsearchType:  Browser PluginAlso Known as:  myway mybar MyWebSearch my way My Web Search MyGlobalSearchCreated by:  MyQuickSearchSG Index:  1 [explain]Official Description:  An IE toolbar providing search features targeted at the site mysearch.com. (Which is a myway.com site; MyWay was owned by iWon.com, writers of the Aornum parasite Now owned by AskJeeves.Comment:  This product does not appear to create any pop-up advertising or transmit data. Any advertising appears in the search results results as text links. Have been reports in past of home page hijacking.Information URL:  http://www.mysearch.com/    # Properties:  Changes browserManual removal:  Open 'Add/Remove Programs' in the Control Panel. Select the 'My Search Bar' entry and click 'Remove'.Removal tools:  List of products that detect/remove/protect against MySearch:# X-Cleaner# RegBlock

It is obviously less benign these days than it once was, when it was a hijacker ... another creepy company trying to go legit at least on one level.However, it is still owned by iWon.com writer of the Aornum parasite. I personally don't trust anything that came from these folks -- even if they did sell to AskJeeves. But that's just me.Each person has to deal with their own choices...and are certainly free to make them.The thing that annoys me is that Dell has started using MyWay and it's the homepage on every Dell system. Which I promptly change for clients. Edited June 4, 2005 by LilBambi

[Corrine]

With dialup, I use about:blank for my home page and then open the sites I want in tabs after connecting. However, I have used MyWay email since some time in 2002 and have never had a problem. Of course, I never considered downloading their speedbar as I want as much desk space as possible and don't want any toolbars cluttering things up. I've certainly never had a problem with an attempted hijack from MyWay.

[Ed_P]

I have used MyWay.com since Excite.com split it off years ago. I've never used their toolbar, or knew that they had one, or any other toolbar with Netscape but do use the Google one with IE. I have never seen any push by MyWay to use their toolbar or any connection to iWon.com in the years I have used MyWay.com. I've never used the spywareguide site that is quoted but I have seen similar sites that push antispyware products and have taken their reviews as worth a grain of salt.Basic motto: Never trust anyone that is trying to sell you something. Doubly true if encountered on the 'net. :)One of the things spywareguide appears to be selling is themselves.http://www.spywareguide.com/txt_helpus.htmlWould appear they are profiting using Google's Adsense.

Edited June 5, 2005 by EdP

[Guest LilBambi]

SpywareGuide.com is something that Wayne Porter of ReveNews.com is a part of. I really don't think that he would want biased info there.However, here are several more places where it is listed:eTrust Spyware Encyclopedia - MyWay

MyWayCategory  Toolbar :  A group of buttons which perform common tasks. A toolbar for Internet Explorer is nomally located below the menu bar at the top of the form. Toolbars may be created by Browser Helper Objects.Browser Helper Object:  (BHO). A component that Internet Explorer will load whenever it starts, shares IE's memory context, can perform any action on the available windows and modules. A BHO can detect events, create windows to display additional information on a viewed page, monitor messages and actions. Microsoft calls it "a spy we send to infiltrate the browser's land." BHOs are not stopped by personal firewalls, because they are seen by the firewall as your browser itself. Some exploits of this technology search all pages you view in IE and replace banner advertisements with other ads. Some monitor and report on your actions. Some change your home page.Reasons For Retention  This research was conducted 02.07.2005. Based on eTrust PestPatrol« Spyware Scorecard v2.0 My Way toolbar bar violates the following criteria: Installs or updates without user permission or knowledge at time of installation. My Way toolbar came bundled with a variety of known spyware when Grokster was installed. Grokster's installation methods do not make clear to the user they will be getting My Way. My Way does not present to the user any installation screen or other method that gives clear understanding and choice.

SpywareInfo.com - MyWay or TheirWay? (April 24, 2003)

MyWay? Or TheirWay?This really kills me. Several times in the past I have strongly recommended myway.com to my readers. I even used to recommend the MyWay email service to people who couldn't receive my newsletter at their usual email service for whatever reason (26 of you are reading this at myway.com right now). It is honestly a very good site. If you've never been there, think Yahoo without all the ads. When it started out, its ad-free pages and simple privacy policy bought it some solid support among the pro-privacy crowd. Unfortunately, they have now blown off that support.There is a toolbar associated with the site, the "MyWay Speedbar". It's very similar to the Google Toolbar. I installed it here and used it and it was pretty cool, although I don't use Internet Explorer enough to really need it. Unlike the parasitic toolbars usually targeted as spyware, the MyWay Speedbar doesn't hijack search and home page settings and doesn't dig itself so deeply into the system that you need a blow torch to be rid of it.Unfortunately, MyWay has started distributing this toolbar using some very disreputable methods. A recent update to the peer-to-peer program Grokster introduced new "sponsor" software bundled into the installer. Altogether, there is now an unbelievable twenty "sponsored" programs bundled into the installer. Unfortunately, one of those sponsored programs is the MyWay Speedbar, and there is no opt-out for it. Anyone installing Grokster has this toolbar foisted on them whether they want it or not. Thanks to FreeAtLast for installing the latest Grokster to discover all this.I have no problem with programs bundling with other programs. I don't even mind adware as long as it's not tracking computer usage to determine which ads to show (spyware in other words). The Opera browser is a good example of how a program can help pay for itself with built-in ad space. What I have a problem with are programs which do not let you opt-out of its install.The MyWay Speedbar is now lumped into the same basket with the other undesirable software that Grokster doesn't let you decline to install. Specifically, that is Gator, Cydoor, eBates/Moe Money Maker thiefware, and SideStep. Also like these programs, the MyWay Speedbar has found itself onto the target list of Ad-aware, something I tried to warn them would happen when I found out about this. Too bad for them they didn't heed my warning.I am not going to recommend that everyone cancel their MyWay accounts. However, I have abandoned my own account and mailbox and removed the toolbar. Consider the company that MyWay is keeping these days, and then consider whether you trust them enough to use their services or toolbar.

InterMute* - MyWay*new owners of CWShredder

Threat ResearchAn IE toolbar providing search features, and a homepage-/search-hijacker, targeted at the sites run by MyWay. (The same people as iWon.com, writers of the Aornum parasite.)VariantsMySearch/MySearch was the first variant, targeted at mysearch.com.MySearch/MyWay uses different filenames and is targeted at myway.com itself.MySearch/MyWeb is a new variant targeted at mywebsearch.com.Also known asMyWay Speed Bar.DistributionThe MySearch and MyWay variants have been bundled with Grokster, Morpheus, WeatherBug, and software from mgshareware.com. MySearch has also been installed by the FavoriteMan parasite.The MyWeb variant is bundled with software (Popswatter, SmileyCentral, My Mail Stamp) from “Fun Web Products” (also the same people as MyWay).What it doesAdvertisingNo. (The search results may contain advertising, but the toolbar itself does not generate any.)Privacy violationNo.Security issuesUsually, no. There is an update feature, but it prompts you before running code.In some versions of the MyWeb variant, yes: it is installed by an ActiveX downloader control which stays around leaving a backdoor for future installation. In newer versions, this control does not remain.Stability problemsNone known.RemovalOpen 'Add/Remove Programs' in the Control Panel. Select the 'My Search Bar' (MySearch variant), 'MyWay Speed Bar' (MyWay) or 'My Web Search Bar' (MyWeb) entry and click 'Remove'. For the MyWeb variant, be sure to also remove 'Fun Web Products Easy Installer'.You can then reset your home page (Internet Options->General->Start Page) if it has been changed, and search settings (Internet Options->Programs->Reset web settings).

Please note: this is informational only. Each person has to weigh the information and come up with their own answers.Many more results on Google:http://www.google.com/search?q=MyWay+spywa...l&start=10&sa=N