If you're not, there's a good reason why you should. We have run across a couple of software industry articles that mention that pitfalls of Netscape Navigator which may be of interest to you.
Article #1 - This article indirectly addresses the pitfalls of the Netscape browsers.
Article #2 - This article directly addresses the issues of Netscape Navigator 6.In our own programming experience, we have found these problems to be accurate. Netscape has made it difficult for web programmers to develop pages. We feel that Netscape forces us to limit the wonderful things we can do on a web page, which is to present information in creative, user-interactive ways. Web programmers focus on rich multimedia content that is appealing to the senses, and endless effort is spent trying to make pages compatible for both the Navigator and IE browsers. Increasingly more can be done since computers are faster and cheaper than ever before, and Internet speeds are increasing at a faster rate as well. Unfortunately, to make web content compatible for both of these browsers, we must "hold back" on some of the interactive things we can do. We feel that it is a detriment to not take full advantage of the technological advancements made possible by Microsoft browsers.
This is not a Netscape hate editorial, nor are we trying to bash Netscape in any way. It is simply a statement that Microsoft has produced a very stable browser that provides users with the best viewing experience. We are not pro-Microsoft nor anti-Netscape; we are strictly focused on the quality of the product. Though we may disagree with some of the business practices of Microsoft, we cannot argue that they have released a product that is technologically superior to the Navigator browser.
We wish that Netscape released a more equitable browser so people would support it more. As of January 2001, Netscape Navigator users comprised 15% of all Internet surfers. By March it was down to 12%. In May 2001, the numbers were at 8%. Microsoft has provided a stable browser that everyone can benefit from—free-of-charge to the user—and has performed well in the "browser wars." You might do well not to short-change yourself; you may be taking a chance missing out on content if you use Netscape Navigator. Bits of information may not be presented properly—or may not be presented at all—with the Netscape browser, unintentional as it may be. With the NN numbers down and decreasing rapidly, developers may start to overlook this small (albeit important) niche of the Internet community. We should all take advantage of the best that free technology has to offer until Netscape or another company develops a better product.
Having said that, we too naturally need to focus on the masses, and Microsoft Internet Explorer is the browser that we will develop and test our content on. We will test and develop for Netscape Navigator as time allows, but any change we need to make in content will always take precedence over developing for Netscape Navigator compatibility. With our small two-person team, developing for "both browsers" has been a literal nightmare. We have made a decision to get back to "content" and focus our energies on content rather than browser compatibility.
Respectfully yours,
Paco & Cynthia PeteloP.S. - This page is in plain text for a reason. If you are having difficulty viewing the rest of this site, download the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer!