Upgrading to Netscape Communicator
I couldn't put it off any longer. I had to upgrade my browser from Netscape Navigator 3.01 to the newly-free Netscape Communicator. I do write about this stuff, after all, so it seems only right that I should be a technological guinea pig. Anticipating a molasses-slow system and hourly crashes, I troopered on to "tune up" (as Netscape was calling it) my browser. But this upgrade is much more than a tune-up, just as the new Communicator is much more than a browser, so let me walk you through it step by step.
It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. You can get the download at the Netscape Communicator page. The file requires about 10 MB of memory, so make sure you have plenty. After you have saved it onto your hard drive, go back in to the area where it was saved (I'm using Windows 95, so in my case, it was saved in my Windows/Temp folder). Click on the executable file (it should look something like CB32e401.exe) to begin installation. For installation to work, you must exit out of your current browser and all Windows applications.
After installation is complete, you will be defaulted into the core part of Communicator, the new version of Netscape Navigator, which operates much like older versions. Communicator is made up of several different components, which let you do everything from sending mail messages to creating HTML documents. Keep in mind that you will have to re-install any plug-ins that you were using in previous versions of Netscape, but fortunately your bookmarks will automatically be transferred.
As for me, things are going well so far. Communicator did crash three or four times the first day I installed it. I haven't yet made use of the new groupware-like features, but I am learning to like the new version of Navigator.
Leave a Reply