Netscape Updates Browser Prototype

Netscape has released a minor update to its reincarnated Web browser, which debuted in prototype form at the end of November. The new release -- available to registered testers -- brings the Netscape code base up to Firefox 1.0 in order to resolve potential security issues, in addition to fixing a few bugs.

As first reported by BetaNews, the browser prototype is being developed in conjunction with Mercurial Communications and features support for switching to Microsoft's IE engine.

The original release was built atop Firefox 0.9.3; although the interface sports Netscape's traditional green, the underlying code is based on work from the Mozilla Foundation. But several potential security vulnerabilities have been discovered in Firefox releases prior to version 1.0, prompting Netscape to update the prototype.

"There won't be any new features or new design in this release, but performance and size have been greatly improved," AOL's Netscape product team wrote to testers of the browser.

Now that Netscape has been brought up to speed with Firefox 1.0, the developers promise to soon release an update with "drastic changes." One new addition may include a revamped user interface, which was proposed to testers after the initial prototype release.