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Re: netscape 4.08for solaris



> is anybody using the 4.08 netscape ? i was told it had a new java engine
> if someone has used it are there any problems/bugs involved?

1. I use. Under Solaris, Linux, HP-UX, and Irix.

2. The "Java engine" was not changed between 4.07 and 4.08, but
   early (4.05 or 4.06, I don't remember). The main change was
   the addition of support for 1.1.something (till this change,
   Only 1.0.something was supported). A more minor change was the
   loading of the Java core classes and other stuff (it was done
   during the start-up of the browser, and now it is done only
   when the first applet is loaded; You can see that your browser
   is freezing for a few seconds).

3. Regarding to bugs: Of course. As any software which is called
   "Netscape" or "Communicator" (well, also "Navigator"), it has
   hundreds bugs, some of them memory leaks, some of them may
   cause pointers to overflow, some of them cause the browser to
   freeze forever, some of them crash the browser, some of them
   cause the hyper links to not be active anymore, and even some
   security vulnerabilities and privacy bugs. The formula is
   simple: Each jump from one major version to another (e.g. from
   Netscape 3 to Netscape 4), doubles the bugs by a factor of 2
   (100% more), while each jump from one minor release to another
   (e.g. from Netscape 4.07 to Netscape 4.08) cuts 5%-10% of the
   bugs. It is not scientific, though.

4. Why do use use a title of "netscape 4.08 for solaris"?  The
   source is the same for all the UNIXes...

-- 
Eli Marmor