Netscape - which version for testing?

[RedFish]

When I got my laptop (almost a year ago), I never bothered to load Netscape so I could test out & see how my site looks with it. I had my site design done previously, so didn't worry about it. But now I want to start tweaking the design.

Anyway, long-winded way of saying - which version of Netscape do you use to test out how your site looks? I'm running Win2k as my OS. Should I be downloading 6.x, or is 7.x stable? I can get stats from my site that shows browser usage, but it doesn't break it down to version.

I know I could be completely anal and download and install all versions, but it's not that important to me.

cheers,
RedFish

[merickson]

You should download the oldest version.

It would be bad if your site worked with a new version, but not on the old one. (Or your ignorance of that fact would be bad.)

[Cagez]

I wouldn't say use the oldest. I test with IE 5.5 and Netscape 6. You don't want to go to far back or you'll be sacrificing usability and features, but you don't want to use only the newest browsers because you'll be sacrificing users. I'm happy right in the middle.

[keith]

i use netscape communicator 4.7 to doublecheck my html.

[Rick]

You're better off with Mozilla as opposed to netscape. It's the same engine, but it isn't loaded down with all of those AOL, ummm... features.

Mozilla.org (http://www.mozilla.org)

[CareBear]

if you only install one version of it I think it's best to go with the oldest one that still has a fair amount of people using it.
If your site uses any kind of scripting language you could use your main page to keep track of the different browsers and version numbers.

[RedFish]

Originally posted by Rick
You're better off with Mozilla as opposed to netscape. It's the same engine, but it isn't loaded down with all of those AOL, ummm... features.

Mozilla.org (http://www.mozilla.org)

So then the question becomes, which version of Mozilla? :) 1.3 or 1.02?

[Jan]

Originally posted by keith
i use netscape communicator 4.7 to doublecheck my html.
I agree with Keith here, although I use it for most of my surfing. It is interesting to review sites with, as there are many who don't take it into consideration and their sites are unviewable. Their loss...I don't go back! :devious2:

The newer versions seem compatible with all the fancy stuff that people are using now, but the real test is with 4.7 :classic2:

(And Rick....no AOL stuff with it, apart from the AIM thingy which I don't use ;))

[Rick]

True... The Netscape 4.x versions don't have the extra weight bundled up in them, but I don't know if you can still find the older versions. I have 4.51 which displays sites differently from Mozilla 1.1 which displays sites differently from IE6.
It ain't easy designing a web site which looks the same or similar in all three.

[CareBear]

Originally posted by Rick
I don't know if you can still find the older versionsNetscape browser archive: http://sillydog.org/narchive/fulldata.html
Or v4.x specifically: http://sillydog.org/narchive/full4.php