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ABC Nightlife, 31 January 2008 | |
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Netscape was doomed when Microsoft built Internet Explorer 3 into the later
editions of Window 95. It was impossible for Netscape to compete against the
browser included in Windows. Eventually they were taken over by America On Line
and AOL have now decided it is no longer worthwhile maintaining the program.
If you are one of the few Netscape users you can still use the software, it's
just there will not be any more updates to it and eventually it will fall behind
other browsers as the web evolves.
A number of callers pointed out the availability of tools like IETabs, which
allow Firefox to run features built into Internet Explorer. We'd discourage
using these as this introduces Internet Explorer security and reliability problems
to Firefox. Avoiding these problems is the whole point of using Firefox in the
first place.
This isn't to say Firefox is perfect; no software is, for instance FF has
a nasty memory leak problem that can slow a computer to a crawl. Even if you
avoid using Interent explorer, security software is still essential on all Windows
computers.
John asked about Security in the Opera browser. Our view is Opera is probably the most secure and best written of the various web browsers commonly in use.
It does have some downsides in that it has a very different way of doing things
to Internet Explorer and Firefox and Opera's strict adherence to web standards
means many poorly written sites that are tolerated by the looser standards of
Firefox and Internet Explorer don't properly work on the Opera browser.
We'd recommend uninstalling any unused programs then running a system cleanup.
There's a number of tools you can use, Microsoft have the built in Windows cleanup
tool and we like Cleanup!
and CCleaner. Beware of some of the commercial programs as there is a great
number of snakeoil merchants in this field.
Our feeling is for most people, the 45nm is probably the better bet. However
if you are buying a server or have a number of processor intensive applications
running such as architecture or graphic design programs, then the quad core
will normally the better choice. Also keep in mind Intel do offer quad core
45nm CPUs so you can have both.
The most important thing to remember is that your computer is a tool to do a job. To ensure it will do the job, check the requirements of the software you intend to run on the system. They will list the amount of memory, disk space, video card and processor required to run the software.
The next Nightlife spot is scheduled for 10pm on March 7. We hope you can join us then. If you'd like to be kept up to date with our ABC schedules and other computer issues then please subscribe to our newsletter.Nightlife 31 January 2008
Paul joined Tony for the first Nightlife computer spot of 2008. Listener's questions
included a rotating computer screen, CPU envy and choosing a laptop. The big news
of the day was the end of the Netscape web browser so we spent the first part
of the show discussing Netscape and the other web browsing options.
The end of Netscape
From February 1, 2008 Netscape will no longer be supported by its parent, AOL.
This is the end of an era for the Internet as Netscape was the first popular browser
and its float in 1995 began the Dot Com boom.
Mozilla Firefox
Firefox is an offshoot of Netscape. In Netscape's final days as an independent company they released an open source version which became Mozilla Firefox.
Today Firefox is the biggest competitor to Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
Firefox versus Internet Explorer
The choice between Firefox and Internet Explorer is in our view quite clear; use
Firefox except when a web site requires the features of Internet Explorer. Many
of the spyware and security problems we see are related to flaws in Internet Explorer.
Computer questions
We cleared a lot of questions during the show including questions about buying
laptops, choosing between processors and rotating computer screens. Given the
topic of the evening, we started with a browser related question.
Opera Browsing
Computer slowing down
Stuart asked about why computers slow down over time. This is one of the greatest
mysteries of computing. Generally programs build up a lot of dross over time and
don't good job of cleaning up after themselves.
Rotated screen
Marion had a screen that rotated 90°and she couldn't figure out how to undo it. This problem created a lot of listener response. The combination to undo it is to hold down the Control key while pressing shift and the left or right arrow (the same keys and the full stop and comma).
Chip Envy
John asked about the
new Intel 45nm chips versus quad
core processors. We call this chip or processer envy. Unless you have specific
needs for your computers then stressing about CPU specifications is unnecessary.
Buying a laptop
A good example of how manufacturers and retailers confuse the market was in our
next call. Sue asked about buying a laptop as the stores were confusing her with
complex specifications. We have a rundown on what
to look for in a new laptop on the website.
Cheap laptops
Steve followed up Sue's question with what they should look for in entry level
laptops. For basic laptops it's necessary to get at least one gigabyte of memory.
We'd also strongly recommend getting at least an 80Gb hard drive. Don't forget
to get a three year extended warranty as well.
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