According to cnet (found via Bleeping Computer News), Microsoft advises Netscape 8 users to uninstall this latest and newest version of Netscape.
Microsoft has alerted consumers that Netscape’s latest browser appears to break the XML rendering capabilities in Microsoft Internet Explorer…IE will render XML files as a blank page, including XML files that have an XSLT transformation.
Of course, MS is denying that there might be a flaw in their browser and of course the easy solution is to uninstall the competition. It’s not known yet whether this issue is the cause of a flaw in IE or a flaw in Netscape, but either way, it’s a huge issue that needs to be avoided.
Honestly, I used to always want to be out there on the cutting edge, trying the newest thing, beta testing everything I could. Nowadays, I am much more cautious and attempt to be more educated in what I’m getting into. I still want to be out there, but the fact is, for me and I think for many of us, I can’t afford to be without my PC, too much of what I do is dependent on it. The world is not going to end if I hose up Windows, but it’s an inconvenience that I don’t have time for, especially on a larger scale, like church-wide. (plus, if you read my last post, I certainly don’t need any help in causing issues for myself!)
It would be interesting to throw another browser into the mix, I think it could push the other two, Firefox and IE, to greater heights, but the new Netscape does not equal the old Netscape. Without even looking closely at it, I would write the new Netscape off as being overly commercialized and just as insecure, if not moreso, than IE, simply my opinion. AOL bought Netscape awhile back and that alone screams at me to stay away.
Firefox is by far superior to anything out there, not perfect, but more secure and they have a much quicker turn-around time than IE, we’re talking days, not months or years, when a security issue is brought out.
So save yourself a lot of heartache and steer clear of Netscape 8…..for now and probably always, but we’ll have to see.”