Download Netscape Navigator 9.0 beta 1

Netscape Navigator is one of the early players in the web browser market, holding an 85% market share at the peak of its popularity. However, that soon changed when Microsoft began shipping Internet Explorer with the Plus package for Windows 95. For the first time since 2004, Netscape has its own group of developers working on the browser again, and a new beta release was released today. Netscape version 9.0 is based on Firefox 2.0 and is available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. Some of the new features include support for newsfeeds, further integration with the Netscape.com Internet portal, and improved discussion and publishing capabilities. of votes. Below is a more extensive overview of the innovations in version 9.0:

The following features are new to Netscape Navigator 9.

Visual Refresh
Netscape Navigator 9’s theme has been updated to save screen-space and leave more room for the websites you visit.

URL Correction
Navigator 9 will automatically correct common typos in URLs. For example, if you accidentally type googlecom, Navigator will fix it be to google.com. The browser will watch for nearly 30 different types of common mistakes and correct them for you (asking you to confirm, if you choose to enable confirmation).

News Menu and Sidebar
The latest news is built right into the browser, under the News menu. Provided by Netscape.com, you can customize the menu to only contain the news sections you want to monitor. You can also open the News sidebar to always keep an eye on what’s happening.

Link Path
The Link Pad is a new sidebar feature that allows you to save links/URLs that you want to visit later without cluttering your bookmarks. Just drag a link over the Link Pad status bar icon and drop it to save it in the Link Pad. By default, clicking on an item in the Link Pad will open it in the browser and remove it from the list, saving you the step of deleting it.

News Tracker
The Netscape Tracker sidebar lets you monitor breaking news as it happens, via Netscape.com.

In-browser voting
Share your opinions with the world! The icons in the Navigator address bar let you share interesting stories you find and vote on stories shared by others.

Extension Compatibility
Navigator 9 shares an architecture with the latest Mozilla technologies; as such, Navigator 9 will let you install extensions that are compatible with Firefox 2.

Sidebar Mini Browser
You’ve always been able to have bookmarks open in the sidebar, but we’ve improved this functionality and extended it to all links, not just bookmarks. Additionally, we’ve added a navigation toolbar to the sidebar for even easier split-screened browsing. Just right-click on a link and select “Open Link in Sidebar” to get started!

Restart Netcape
A smalll but oft-requested feature: you can now restart Navigator (and keep your current tabs intact) by selecting “Restart Navigator” from the File menu.

Resizeable Text Area
Drag the bottom-right corners of text fields in forms to add more typing space.

History tab
Opening a link in a new tab will give the new tab the same history as the source tab for a more seamless tabbed browsing experience.

OPML Support
Netscape Navigator supports importing and exporting your bookmarks in OPML, a popular format for sharing lists of newsfeeds.

Throbber
By popular demand, the Netscape 7-style throttle is back. Click on it any time to visit Netscape.com.

Combined Stop/Reload button
To save space in your toolbar, we’ve combined the stop and reload buttons. Because you never need both at the same time, the toolbar will only show the relevant half of the pair.

Friends’ Activity Sidebar
If you are a member at Netscape.com, you can keep tabs on what your friends find interesting. This sidebar lets you view your friends latest votes, comments, and story submissions.

Sitemail Notification
This icon will sport an exclamation point when you have new Netscape.com sitemail messages waiting for you.

Since Navigator 9 is based on the newest Mozilla technologies, there are additional features in Navigator 9 that were not available in Netscape Browser 8.x. You can read about those new features in these release notes from Mozilla.[break] Click on the image for a larger version.