Netscape 6.0 Likened to Fashion Show

Netscape has unleashed Version 6.0, the Web browser that looks like a fashion show. <br><br>Available for the PC, Mac and Linux platforms, Netscape 6.0 has taken Version 4.7, the dependable browser in

Tuesday, December 5th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Netscape has unleashed Version 6.0, the Web browser that looks like a fashion show.

Available for the PC, Mac and Linux platforms, Netscape 6.0 has taken Version 4.7, the dependable browser in a Wall Street business suit, and moved it to the East Village, complete with nose ring and dyed orange hair.

The default interface is consciously hip-looking. Like those tall platform shoes, it's stylish, but not right for everyone. In this case, the look is a ``theme.''

You can revert to the ``classic'' theme in which the stop button looks like a stoplight instead of an ``X.'' And there are other themes available for download on the Web site (http://www.netscape.com).

Those of us who associate ``hip'' only with ``replacement'' will grumble that if you're worried about which theme your browser is wearing today, you need to get a life. But if you can get past that and some other annoyances, you'll find a solid technical underpinning.

The main toolbar URL field of Netscape 6.0 does double duty as a search field, so you don't have to hop to a search page first to start looking for something. (The browser uses â€” surprise! â€” Netscape search as the default.)

The ``sidebar,'' a window at the left of the page that can display real-time information (or just about anything else you want), can be distracting, but you can make it disappear. In, fact, you can customize a bundle of things, which is OK if that's how you want to spend your time.

Both 6.0 and 4.7 versions can run simultaneously, good if you've download the newer version and are ambivalent about it. After some time running both, 4.7 still gets the nod if you're in a hurry to see all your bookmarks, which it displays in multiple columns while 6.0 shows them in a single column that scrolls. But 6.0 is better at handling multiple e-mail accounts, if you're into using aliases.

Netscape claims the later version is faster, but it wasn't all that noticeable in side-by-side tests on the same PC. The password and cookie manager functions are good, if privacy is a concern. The browser also has links to plenty of Internet content, making it an information source of sorts, perhaps the ruboff from corporate parent America Online.

If you must have the latest (and won't bow to Microsoft's Internet Explorer), the price is right: The download is free, or you can get a CD-ROM by mail for $5.95.

Even on a fast Ethernet connection at the office, downloading the PC version took about 14 minutes. Depending on the speed of your Internet connection and any toll charges that might be involved, the ``free'' download might not be so free.

For most users, it's a question of style and taste, and the only way to decide is to try it. Beforehand, note the system requirements for Netscape 6.0 as given on the Web site:

â€”Windows 95, 98, 2000 or NT 4.0: Pentium, 133 MHz, 64 MB of RAM.

â€”Mac OS 8.5, OS 8.6 or OS 9 with PowerPC: 200 MHz PowerPC 604 or G3, 64 MB of RAM, with virtual memory turned on (or 48 MB of dynamic RAM).

â€”Red Hat Linux 6.1: Pentium, 133 MHz, 64 MB of RAM.

The site also cautions, ``If you are running Netscape 6.0 on SuSe Linux 6.2, you must install the file ``libjpeg.so.62,'' which it has available for download.

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Questions and comments are welcome. Mail to Larry Blasko, AP, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020-1666. Or e-mail through the Internet to lblasko(at)ap.org.