Netscape Revamps Site and Browser Beta

It's fall cleaning time at America Online's Netscape division.

Netscape is unveiling a redesigned Netscape.com, highlighting simpler access to small-business services and applications. Also, many bugs are fumigated from Netscape's third and final preview version of its Netscape 6 browser. Netscape expects to release Netscape 6 later this fall.

Netscape.com's improvements, which appear on Wednesday, center on its core Netbusiness services and tools launched in September. It adds content from new partners, including soon-to-be sibling companies that are part of Time Warner.

Netscape has also enhanced its Web-based e-mail, so you can synchronize the Netscape address book on your PC with Netscape.com WebMail. Netscape Preview Release 3 is more tightly integrated with the Netscape.com site.

"Instead of adding features, we focused on stability," says Michael LaGuardia, director of Netscape's client product team. Besides fixing bugs, Netscape has added a modern motif with a number of interface tweaks.

First Impressions of Refreshed Browser, Site

Despite Netscape's promise to eradicate bugs, during a cursory review of the browser I stumbled on plenty. Its e-mail client crashed several times, as did the browser, when I tried to print a Web page.

Another problem cropped up when I attempted to run Java applications. It got hung up when I tried using MSN.com's Java-based gaming site and when I tried running AOL.com's "AIM Express," a Java-based version of AOL Instant Messenger. In both cases, the Java app wouldn't run properly. I was instructed to install the Java plug-in, which failed to install.

AOL's error message states, "AIM Express has not been extensively tested with this version of this browser software."

I couldn't distinguish any difference in Web page load times when testing Netscape 6 against Internet Explorer 5.5 and Netscape's 4.72 Communicator browser. Overall, though, the Netscape 6 Preview is more stable than earlier versions.

Netscape.com's new design is easier to navigate. Links previously organized as a taxonomy of sites are now placed inside six horizontal subject categories. The sections are Business, Personal Finance, NetBusiness, Shop, Tech, and Fun.

You can't customize the content to your own taste, which would be nice. Also, much material is tied directly to the Netscape browser and network. For example, I selected "Netscape Radio" in the Tech section and had to sign in to Netcenter before I could hear music.

With AOL and Netscape's sprawling empire of Web properties, it would be nice if AOL adopted a single sign-in service so I can use one name and password at the growing number of related sites. For example, although I was signed into Netscape 6's version of AIM, I had to log on to each individual password-protected Netscape and AOL site. Microsoft Passport provides this service.