First Look: Free SeaMonkey Internet Tool Suite Is Solid

My hat is off to anyone who goes against the trend. Just when browsers and other Internet tools focus on getting small and specialized, along comes the SeaMonkey Internet Suite that harkens back to the Net's early days by building atop the vestiges of the old Netscape suite of Web tools.

The Mozilla Foundation's announcement in 2003 that it would focus on the Firefox browser and Thunderbird e-mail client seemed to signal the end of the Mozilla Application Suite. After all, the trend has long been toward modular Internet tools and away from a browser integrated with e-mail, chat, and other Web tools.

Defying convention, a group of volunteer developers has revived the former Mozilla suite to create SeaMonkey, a free program that combines the Mozilla Navigator browser with an enhanced version of the Netscape Messenger e-mail client, the ChatZilla IRC (Internet Relay Chat) program, and an HTML editor and other tools for Web developers.

All or Some?

During installation, you're asked if you want to add only browser components or the complete SeaMonkey suite; you can also choose which tools are installed via the Custom option. The whole enchilada gets you the Navigator browser, the Messenger e-mail client (aka "Mail & Newsgroups"), Spellchecker, and the ChatZilla chat program, as well as a Javascript debugger, a Document Object Model (DOM) inspector, and other Web development tools.

The installer also gives you the option of placing a SeaMonkey icon in your Quick Launch toolbar, which it claims will allow for "faster startup times when possible."

Checking this option places the program's bluebird icon in both the Quick Launch toolbar and the system tray, which is what the developers mean by faster start-ups. Of course, it also means the program is using some system resources even when it's not open. However, one look at an average PC's overcrowded system tray indicates that few people will object to having yet another idle app nibbling at their CPU cycles.

Behind-the-Scenes Enhancements

Current Mozilla/Netscape browser users may look long and hard before they notice any changes in SeaMonkey Navigator, apart from the blue SeaMonkey icon in the top-right corner of the browser. The SeaMonkey Council claims that it's focused on "back-end changes that improve security, stability, and performance" in this release. Two interface changes of note: When you have multiple tabbed pages open, you can now drag and drop tabs to rearrange them, and when you open an image in a new window, the tab shows a thumbnail of the image.

Likewise, the SeaMonkey Messenger e-mail program bears a striking resemblance to its Mozilla and Netscape Messenger predecessors. The program adds a phishing-detection tool in the new release, and it lets you view and access mail from several different accounts in a single inbox.

You can import mail and address books from other Messenger clients, as well as from Eudora, Outlook, and Outlook Express. However, I was unable to import mail or addresses from Outlook in three attempts. My OE mail and folders imported without a hitch (I didn't test the import function with Eudora).

Add Mozilla Extensions

Even though this is technically a 1.0 release, Mozilla extensions are available for SeaMonkey programs. Topping the list of useful extensions for Navigator are the NoScript program for blocking Javascripts on a site-by-site basis, and the Googlebar toolbar that approximates the Google Toolbar.

Go here for the NoScript and other SeaMonkey/Mozilla downloads. And for the Googlebar, go here.

Bottom Line

The 1.0 nature of the suite is evident in other areas, however. When I specified my own font style and size, for example, some pages didn't render correctly, jumbling images with text.

This is a problem some other browsers have on occasion as well. Because SeaMonkey is a volunteer, open-source project, users can be assured of frequent (almost daily) updates that fix bugs and enhance features. After a couple of days of use, it's clear that SeaMonkey's volunteer developers will be busy for a while.

Despite these bumps, there's a definite appeal to having your browser, e-mail, and other Web tools in a single package. While the program isn't likely to challenge Internet Explorer, Mozilla's own Firefox, or Opera in terms of browser market share, SeaMonkey will surely find a home with many current and former Mozilla/Netscape users. Web developers in particular--many of whom cut their HTML teeth in the old Netscape Composer--will find that SeaMonkey's combination of features hits their suite spot.

SeaMonkey Internet Suite 1.0

The free browser/e-mail/chat/Web tool suite rises phoenix-like from the ashes of the Mozilla Application Suite, with the help of voluneer developers--and with a few 1.0 jitters.
List: Free
www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey